 | |
 | |
| Length | 2.5 km (1.6 mi) |
|---|---|
| west end | 50/20 Interchange |
| Major junctions | Beit Hanina Road |
| east end | Junction atHighway 60 |
| Construction | |
| Completion | 2013 |
Jerusalem Road 20 is a combination of existing roads and new construction creating a continuous route betweenJerusalem'sHighway 50 (Begin Boulevard) andPisgat Ze'ev viaBeit Hanina.[1][2] The number "20" is a designation used by the Jerusalem Municipality. Several segments of the road follow national road 4197.[3] The cost of the project was NIS 180 million and was completed on 5 May 2013.[4]
The route begins at Highway 50 (Begin Boulevard) at the newBenzion Netanyahu Interchange[5] just west of the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem. From there the route traverses a bridge over the Atarot Stream.[6] East of the bridge, the route connects to the existingAbdul Hamid Shoman Street (Road 4197) 0.5 km before the intersection with the north–southJerusalem Road 21. Originally a 2-lane road, Shoman Street has been upgraded as a 4 lane divided boulevard including new sidewalks and infrastructure.
At the intersection withTaha Hussein andAl-Ma'mun Streets, where Shoman Street originally veered east-southeast to becomeHizma Road,[7] new lanes were constructed to create the Hizma Bypass curving 200 meters to the north.[8] This new section of Shoman Street has three traffic-light controlled intersections, at Hussein and Ma'mun Streets, at Beit Hanina Road and atMaximos Sayegh Street. Two other cross streets,Faidi al-Alami Street andal-Hilal Street, were split with pedestrian bridges to provide access across the boulevard. 200 meters east of Maximos Sayegh Street, Shoman Street rejoins the original Hizma Road (Road 4197).
Another 200 meters east, Jerusalem Road 20 ends atHighway 60 (Uzi Narkis Road). From that point, the road continues asAmihai "Gidi" Paglin Street andSayeret Duchifat Boulevard as it enters Pisgat Zeev, leading to the Hizmasecurity checkpoint to Route 437 and theMateh Binyamin Region.
In the late 1990s, the Israel Ministry of Transport planned to constructHighway 45 fromHighway 1 nearBen Gurion International Airport through theWest Bank passing slightly north ofBeit Horon andBeit Ur al-Fauqa to theAtarot Industrial Park in Jerusalem.[9] The current Route 443, just south of these towns, has put that plan on hold, leaving a small portion of Highway 45 betweenGivat Zeev and Atarot completed in 2003.[10] Furthermore, an easterly extension was envisioned which would continue from Atarot and connect with Route 437 and theEastern Ring Road. Additionally, 45 was eventually supposed to reach the border with Jordan north of the Dead Sea.[2][11][12] The construction of the Security Wall along the right of way of Highway 45 just east of Atarot made that plan unworkable. Another east–west route would be needed to reach Route 437.
Road 20 was first approved in 2005 as a replacement to the central portion of Highway 45 pending future developments. In 2010, the planning committee of Israel's West Bank Civil Administration accepted a plan to create the route using exiting roads and new construction.[13] In 2011, the Hizma Road bypass was built. At the same time, Shoman Street was upgraded and the extension of Shoman Street to what was preliminarily called the 50/20 Interchange connecting with Begin Boulevard was begun.[14] The extension and interchange were completed in May, 2013. The interchange was officially renamed afterBenzion Netanyahu, the Israeli historian.[5]
Construction of Road 20 was not without controversy. The stated official purpose of the road is to ease traffic congestion at Sha'ar Mizrach Junction ofHighway 60 andHighway 1. The road provides an alternative route for residents of Beit Hanina,Shu'afat, Pisgat Zeev andNeve Yaakov via Highway 50 (Begin Boulevard) southward to central Jerusalem and northward toRoute 443 to Tel Aviv. Groups such asPeace Now have stated that the plan designates occupied territory for permanent infrastructure and that the purpose of the road is to consolidate Israeli control over (North)East Jerusalem while disregarding the needs of the residents in Beit Hanina. The planning committee rejected opposition from Beit Hanina on the grounds that direct access to Begin Boulevard would benefit them and found an engineering solution in the form of a bridge to limit the footprint on West Bank land from the extension to the interchange.[13]
 | This section is missing a table that represents a list of exits or junctions. Please help byadding the missing exit or junction list.(November 2021) |
| km | Name | Type | Location | Road(s) Crossed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | מחלף בן ציון נתניהו (Benzion Netanyahu Interchange) |   | Beit Hanina |  Highway 50(Begin Boulevard) | |
| 0.1 | Bridge 4 lanes, 200 meters |  | above Atarot Stream | ||
| Abdul Hamid Shoman St. | |||||
| 0.6 |  | Beit Hanina | Road 4197 west to Beit Hanina al-Balad | ||
| 0.8 | (eastbound only) |  | Beit Hanina | al-Sa'adeh Street | |
| 0.9 | (westbound only) | | Beit Hanina, Nof Shmu'el | Sha'ar Shechem Street | |
| 0.95 | (eastbound only) | | Beit Hanina | ||
| 1.1 | | Beit Hanina | Jerusalem Road 21 | ||
| 1.15 | (westbound only) | | Beit Hanina | al-Senaabil Street | |
| 1.22 | (eastbound only) | | Beit Hanina | Umm Kulthum St. | |
| 1.27 | (eastbound only) | | Beit Hanina | al-Munzer St. | |
| 1.3 | (westbound only) | | Beit Hanina, Beit Hanina School | al-Madaris St. | |
| 1.45 | | Beit Hanina, Rahadat Wardiya High School | Taha Hussein St., Al-Ma'mun St. | ||
| New Abdul Hamid Shoman St. (Hizma Road Bypass) | |||||
| 1.6 | | Beit Hanina | Beit Hanina Road | ||
| 1.7 | Pedestrian Bridge |  | Beit Hanina | Faidi al-Alami St. | |
| 1.85 | Pedestrian Bridge | | Beit Hanina | al-Hilal St. | |
| 2.1 | | Beit Hanina | Maximos Sayegh (to/from Hizma Rd.) | ||
| 2.2 | (westbound only) | | Beit Hanina | ||
| 2.3 | (westbound only) | | Beit Hanina | al-Akhilaas | |
| Hizma Rd. | |||||
| 2.4 | (eastbound only) | | Beit Hanina | ||
| 2.5 | | Beit Hanina, Pisgat Zeev |  Highway 60(DerechUzi Narkiss), Amihai "Gidi" Paglin St., Sayeret Duchifat Blvd. to  Route 437 | ||
31°49′46″N35°13′34″E / 31.82944°N 35.22611°E /31.82944; 35.22611
