Highway 50
כביש 50
Menahem Begin Boulevard Hebrew: כביש בגין, romanized: Sderot Menahem Begin Begin Expressway Hebrew: שדרות מנחם בגין, romanized: Kvish Begin
Southward toward Rozmarin Interchange
Route information
Length	13.5 km (8.4 mi) 16.2 km (10 mi) upon completion of Begin South
Existed	June 1998–present
Major junctions
South end	Rozmarin Interchange (HaMinharot Junction)
Major intersections	Dov Yosef Interchange Malha Interchange Golomb Interchange Givat Mordechai Interchange Kiryat Moshe Interchange Givat Shaul Interchange Golda Meir Interchange Yigael Yadin Interchange Benzion Netanyahu Interchange
North end	Atarot Junction
Location
Country	Israel
Major cities	Jerusalem Neighborhoods: Gilo, Beit Safafa, Malha/Manahat, Holyland, Katamonim, Bayit VeGan, Beit HaKerem, Givat Mordechai, Kiryat Moshe, Kiryat HaLeom, Givat Shaul, Har Hotzvim, Ramot, Beit Hanina, Atarot
Highway system
Roads in Israel Highways
← Highway 46 → Highway 55

Highway 50 (formerly Route 404), officially called Begin Boulevard (Hebrew: שדרות בגין, Sderot Begin) and also referred to as Menachem Begin Expressway or Begin Highway, is a north-south urban freeway, through western Jerusalem, named after Israel's sixth Prime Minister, Menachem Begin. Local Jerusalemites simply refer to it as 'Begin' (Hebrew pronunciation: [ˈbegin]). It enters Area C of the West Bank on the north end and East Jerusalem on both ends.

Route

The road follows a south-north path that connects key neighborhoods and commercial areas, as well as several city arteries and national routes. Beginning at the Rosmarin Interchange (formerly the Tunnels Junction) of the Gush Road in Gilo, the road arcs north-westward through Gilo, Beit Safafa, and Sharafat turning northward through Malha. Passing Golomb Blvd, the road travels below a high ridge to the west on which sits the Holyland Park building complex. To the east is Emek Hatzva'im (Gazelle Valley), a green zone that was previously leased to Kiryat Anavim and Ma'ale HaHamisha and used for agricultural purposes.^[1] Further on, the path was excavated to create a depressed roadway between Bayit Vegan, Givat Mordechai, Ramat Beit HaKerem and Givat Ram. This section is equipped with noise barriers and speed cameras.^[2]

The road then passes through two tunnels under Jaffa Road and the busy western entrance to Jerusalem. Winding down the western and northern slopes below Romema, the road steeply descends 150 meters into Emek HaArazim (Valley of Cedars) with interchanges at Golda Meir Blvd (Route 436) and Yigal Yadin Blvd (Highway 1). Passing between Ramot and Ramat Shlomo, the road continues through the West Bank passing Beit Hanina, Bir Nabala and Atarot. Finally at Atarot Junction, Highway 50 officially becomes Highway 45 providing a continuous connection to Route 443 to Modi'in and the Tel Aviv area.

History

Old designation

Begin Boulevard is made of the central section, which was completed two years ahead of schedule in June 1998,^[3] and the northern extension completed in late 2002^[4]

Since its construction, the road was called national Route 404.^[5] In internal Jerusalem Municipality documentation, it was known as Jerusalem Road 4. In 2012, the Israel Ministry of Transport and the Jerusalem Municipality began using the designation 50.^[6][7] New blue "Highway 50" signs were posted by the National Roads Company of Israel to reflect this change.^[8][9][10] The Moriah-Jerusalem Development Corporation, responsible for road construction in Jerusalem also uses the designation, 50.

Begin South

Begin South

The "Begin South Project", first planned in 1990, involved widening Begin Boulevard from 4 to 6 lanes and extending it as a freeway past Golomb Boulevard to connect with Route 60 at the Tunnels Road in Gilo to Gush Etzion.^{[14][15][16][17][18]} Construction proceeded in stages beginning in 2010 to widen the highway between Givat Mordechai Interchange and Golomb Junction. At the same time, reconstruction of sewer lines further south was completed in order to accommodate the lowering of the highway to pass under Golomb Boulevard and local streets next to the Malha Mall, Teddy Stadium and the Jerusalem Malha Railway Station with interchange access to these locations. In 2013, a tunnel was built creating the new Golomb Interchange, and work proceeded to lower the road past the Malha Mall and Teddy Stadium with service roads on either side. This first stage was completed at the end of 2014.

Further south, past the Malha Railway Station, work continued through the neighborhood of Sharafat with the completion of the second stage and the opening of the Dov Yosef Interchange in March 2015.

The final stage of the project between Dov Yosef Boulevard and Rosmarin Street through the neighborhood of Beit Safafa went ahead despite the residents' objections and requests for a tunnel. The highway was built as a slightly depressed roadway with a 200-meter-wide, park-covered bridge at al-Qa'ash St. connecting the southwest corner of the neighborhood with its center.^[12][19][20] Ongoing litigation between the residents and the municipality regarding the proximity of the highway to houses and the desire for additional crossing points continued during the construction process.^[21] Construction of ramps to Rosmarin Street were completed in the spring of 2016,^[22] while the underpass of Rosmarin Interchange connecting Highway 50 with Highway 60 southward was completed in September 2017.^[23][24] The total cost for the project was 1.1 B Shekels.^[6][25]

Future

In the center, a plan has been published to connect Begin Boulevard at Givat Mordechai Interchange to Highway 1 at the new Motza Interchange via the new Jerusalem Road 16. The road would travel mostly through a series of tunnels under the parking lots of Shaare Zedek Medical Center and the west Jerusalem neighborhoods of Yefeh Nof and Har Nof. In the center, the above-ground Nahal Revida Interchange would lead to Givat Shaul. This would create another entrance to Jerusalem to ease the traffic congestion at the Ben Gurion Blvd./Jaffa Road entrance and provide direct access to south Jerusalem from the west.^[26] Expected to be completed by 2018, the plan still has to pass stiff resistance on ecological grounds due to the above-ground section at Nahal Revida located in the Jerusalem Forest.^[27]

Interchanges & Junctions (South to North)

Near Teddy Stadium and above Jaffa–Jerusalem railway

Northward toward Kiryat Moshe Interchange
with noise barriers

Northward toward Givat Shaul Interchange

Northward at Yigal Yadin Interchange

Benzion Netanyahu Interchange

The old village of Beit Hanina separated from the new part of Beit Hanina by the separation barrier and Highway 50

Northward approaching Atarot Junction

km	Name	Type	Meaning	Location	Road(s) Crossed
↓Jerusalem Municipality↓
0	מחלף רוזמרין (Rosmarin Interchange), צומת המנהרות (HaMinharot Junction)		Rosemary, The Tunnels	Gilo & Beit Safafa neighborhoods	HaRosmarin St., Highway 60 (Tunnels Road from Gush Etzion)
0.8	Tunnels 4 lanes, 200 meters				al-Qa'ash St.
1.5	מחלף דב יוסף (Dov Yosef Interchange)[28][29]		named after Dov Yosef	Gilo, Beit Safafa & Sharafat neighborhoods	Dov Yosef Blvd.
2	Green Line
2.7	מחלף מלחה (Malha Interchange)		named after location	Malha Mall, Teddy Stadium, Jerusalem Tennis Center, Malha Railway Station, Jerusalem Technology Park, Jerusalem Arena, Malha/Manahat neighborhood	Beitar Sport Assn. Rd., David Ayalon St., HaPoel Sport Assn. Rd., Maccabi Sport Assn Rd., Yitzhak Moda'i St., David Benvenisti St.
3.3	Tunnels 6 lanes, 240 meters				Eliyahu Golomb Blvd.
3.4	מחלף גולומב (Golomb Interchange) [Note1]			Holyland, Malha/Manahat & Katamonim neighborhoods	Eliyahu Golomb Blvd., Beitar Sport Assn. Rd.
4.4	מנהרות בייט Beyth Tunnels 4 lanes, 310 metres				Shmuel Beyth St., Bezalel Bazak St.
4.6	מחלף גבעת מרדכי (Givat Mordechai Interchange)		Mordechai's Hill	Givat Mordechai, Ramat Beit HaKerem & Bayit Vegan neighborhoods	Shmuel Beyth St., Bezalel Bazak St., Jerusalem Road 16
6.4	מחלף קרית משה (Kiryat Moshe Interchange)		Moses' Town	Kiryat HaLeom (National Precinct) & Kiryat Moshe neighborhoods	Yitzhak Rabin St.
7	Tunnels 6 lanes, 570 metres				Shazar Blvd., Herzl Blvd., Weizmann Blvd., Jaffa Road
7.8	מחלף גבעת שאול (Givat Shaul Interchange) (northbound entrance) (southbound exit)		Saul's Hill	Givat Shaul neighborhood	Ben Gurion Blvd., Givat Shaul St. Weizmann Blvd., (to Jaffa Road)
9.3	מחלף גולדה מאיר (Golda Meir Interchange ) (southbound entrance) (northbound exit)		Named after Golda Meir	Har Hotzvim High-Tech Park, Ramot neighborhood	Route 436 (Golda Meir Blvd.)
10.1	Green Line
10.2	מחלף יגאל ידין (Yigael Yadin Interchange)		Named after Yigael Yadin	North entrance to Jerusalem, Ramot and Ramat Shlomo neighborhoods	Highway 1 (Jerusalem Road 9/ Yigael Yadin Blvd.)
↑Jerusalem Municipality↑
12.5	מחלף בן ציון נתניהו (Benzion Netanyahu Interchange)[13]		named after Benzion Netanyahu	Beit Hanina neighborhood	Jerusalem Road 20 (Abdul Hamid Shomaan St.) to Pisgat Ze'ev
16.2	צומת עטרות (Atarot Junction)		Crowns	Atarot Industrial Park	Highway 45 (to Route 443)

^{note 1} Upon completion, "Golomb Interchange" is expected to be renamed "Yitzhak Shamir Interchange" after Israel's 7th Prime Minister.^[30]

References

31°48′07″N 35°12′08″E / 31.80194°N 35.20222°E / 31.80194; 35.20222