As part of the approved plan, six detour routes are being paved in the southbound direction and seven in the northbound direction, each 2.5 kilometers long. In those sections, a metal separation fence will be built between the opposing travel lanes and lighting will be installed. Signs placed on the road will inform drivers how many kilometers they have left until the nearest detour, to encourage them to avoid dangerous detours earlier.
In the southward direction, two such sections are paved between the Arava junction and Ein Yahav; Another section between Ein Yahav and Sapir; A section between the horn and the cliffs and two between the cliffs and the rest junction. In the opposite direction, three sections will be paved between Shica and the Cliffs, one a little north of the Cliffs and three more between Ein Yahav and the Arava Junction. Another seven kilometers will be stratified.
It was also decided that the Arava highway will be the first in Israel where the average driving speed will be enforced according to sections, which is already accepted in Europe. The vehicle is recorded entering and leaving the section, and the system calculates its travel time in the section, and derives the average travel speed from it.
When the plan was announced, the date for the completion of the works was set for the end of 2023, but they are still ongoing and are expected to be completed only in November. At the same time, there is still no date for the start of the use of the average speed measurement system: it is already in an operational trial, for the purpose of examining and proving its reliability, in order to avoid the failures in bringing into service the existing speed cameras, and the previous generation of the owl device for detecting drunk drivers. But the experiment has not yet ended, and there is still no date for the system to start issuing the reports.
The good news is about the widening of the road. In August, it will be decided on Nativ Israel which will be the next section that will be expanded: between Nahal Shitka at km 82 and the Koshi Ramon inn on route 101, or from the inn to the Moshav Tzofar area at km 125. This is after it received a budget of 450 million shekels for the work, and an additional budget for the planning of the extension to Ein Hatzava in the 155th km, which will allow an immediate exit to the tender as soon as an additional budget is received.
As mentioned, a billion shekels are required to complete the works in a period of heavy budgetary pressure on the treasury, but beyond saving human lives, investing in infrastructure in Eker during a crisis is a source of employment, and also for the purchase of equipment by contractors, both of which also put money back into the state coffers from taxes on the work and the equipment.
“My heart aches for every death on this road, and I am committed to completing its expansion,” says Israel Routes CEO Nissim Peretz. “The expansion that will begin in August will last two years, after which we will reach a situation where two-thirds of this road is already two lanes with a separation fence. A forgiving infrastructure for mistakes dramatically lowers the number of fatalities, and as soon as there are available budgets, we will complete the treatment further down the road.”
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