Highway 60 (Israel–Palestine)
Highway 60 (Israel–Palestine)
Main page
1643353

Highway 60 (Israel–Palestine)

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Highway 60 (Israel–Palestine)

Highway 60 or (Hebrew: כביש שישים, Kvish Shishim; Arabic: الطريق السريع ستين at-Tariq as-Sarie Sitiin) is a south–north intercity road in Israel and the Palestinian West Bank that stretches from Beersheba to Nazareth.

The Highway in large part follows the same general route as the so-called biblical "Way of the Patriarchs" (Hebrew: דרך האבות, romanized(Derech HaAvot)), since it also follows the central watershed of the hill country, which figures prominently in the travels of the Biblical patriarchs.

From its junction with Highway 40 in Beersheba to the city's outskirts, Route 60 is a dual carriageway with at-grade intersections. While it continues on to serve as the main north–south artery between Israeli settlements and Palestinian communities such as the cities of Hebron and Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, it is a two-lane, shoulderless road until past Hebron at Gush Etzion Junction, where it regains its lane-separation until short of Bethlehem, that section having recently been widened. Upon entering Jerusalem, its lanes are again mostly separated as it serves as a central artery in the city center. In the northern quarters it becomes a separate grade freeway with multiple interchanges, from where it continues through the central and northern West Bank as a two-lane road, not being divided again until the stretch between Afula and its terminus in downtown Nazareth.

Due to it running through a mainly rural setting, many of the junctions along its route feature hitchhiking posts called trempiadas.

At present, the highway is non-contiguous pending final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The section through Jenin is closed to yellow (Israeli) license plates. The sections north and south of the West Bank and through Jerusalem are closed to green (Palestinian Authority) license plates.

Before the Oslo Accords, Palestinians lived under Israeli authority and could travel freely on the road. After the Palestinian Authority assumed control over various cities, Israel established checkpoints on areas of the route which entered Palestinian jurisdiction. New routes of highway were paved so that Israeli traffic could bypass the Palestinian towns in order to reduce friction. These so-called bypass roads, while a contentious issue in their own right due to the varying levels of limitation on Palestinian access, also served as an improvement to the road which allowed traffic to flow around, rather than through the heart of congested urban areas.

One of the more sophisticated segments – built on lands east of the Green line set in 1967 – is the stretch known as the Tunnels Highway. Designed by a French firm,[specify] the route leads from southern Jerusalem to the Jewish settlements area of Gush Etzion, bypasses Bethlehem and then heading to the northwest using a pair of tunnels; the northern tunnel, called the Gilo tunnel because it is adjacent to the Gilo neighborhood/Settlement, is 270 metres long. The second tunnel, called the Refaim tunnel based on the nearby Refaim Valley and passing under Har Gilo and Beit Jala, is 900 m long, making it the longest road tunnel in the West Bank. The tunnels are linked by the West Bank's highest and longest bridge, crossing the Walaja Valley.[citation needed]

In 2024, the project to build a second bridge and tunnel parallel to the first, thus expanding the road to two lanes in each direction, was completed. Construction on widening the roadway to two lanes in each direction south from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion Junction is ongoing.[1]

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.