Highway 5 (Israel)
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| Highway 5 | |
| Hebrew name | כביש חוצה שומרון (Kvish Hotze Shomron) |
| Name meaning | Cross Samaria Highway |
| Length | 37 km |
| Direction | East - West |
| Classification | Expressway |
| Start | Tel Aviv (Glilot Junction) |
| Primary destinations | |
| End | Ariel (Gitai Junction) |
| Major junctions |
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Highway 5, or the Trans-Samaria Highway (Hebrew: כביש חוצה שומרון, Kvish Hotze Shomron), is one of Israel's main highways, connecting the Mediterranean coast immediately north of Tel Aviv with the central Sharon plain and Ariel and other Israeli settlements in Samaria (northern West Bank).
The name Highway 5 is commonly used to describe a section of the highway running from the road's western end at the Glilot Interchange until where it crosses the Green Line near Elkana. In this capacity it intersects and creates a connection between four important arterial freeways in the northern Tel Aviv area - The Coastal Highway (Highway 2), the Ayalon Highway (Highway 20), Geha Highway (Highway 4) and the Cross-Israel Highway (Highway 6). Past the Green Line, however the name Kvish Hotze Shomron (Cross-Samaria highway) is used to describe the entire highway's length starting from Glilot and continuing east towards the Jordan Valley. The highway's section from the Green Line to Gitai Avisar Junction has also been dedicated as "Derekh Haim" (Haim's Road, but also "Way of Life") after the late Haim Landau, a former Minister of Transportation.
Highway 5 with its 3-5 high-capacity lanes in each direction initially reached only the up to the Green Line, and served mainly the densely populated Gush Dan area. In Samaria (West Bank) the main road was still the old Road 505, which is now partially closed to Jewish transportation. In the beginning of the 90's, with the growth of Ariel and the settlements around it, arose the need for a more modern road, than the single-lane low-quality Road 505. Therefore, Highway 5 was extended some 20 Km to the east of the Green Line, ending almost within sight of Ariel and serving the largest block of the Israeli settlements in Samaria counting about 50000 people, as well as the massive Industrial area Barkan located halfway between the Green Line and Ariel. To this day this section of Highway 5 remains one of the biggest infrastructure projects that Israel has undertaken in Judea and Samaria.
Officially, Highway 5 ends at the Gitai Avisar Junction east of Barkan where it merges into Road 505 which continues east past Ariel until Pezael which is located on Route 90, the north-south road parallel to the Israel-Jordan border in the Jordan Valley. The extension of Highway 5 from the Gitai Avisar Junction until Ariel Junction, which was planned for 2007 is currently postponed without a definitive time schedule.
[edit] Interchanges
| km | Name | Type | Meaning | Location | Road(s) Crossed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | מחלף גלילות מערב (Glilot Ma'arav Interchange) |
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West Glilot | Tel Aviv |  (Highway 2) |
| 1 | מחלף גלילות מזרח (Glilot Mizrah Interchange) |
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East Glilot | Tel Aviv |  (Ayalon Highway) |
| 3 | מחלף הכפר הירוק (Hakfar Hayarok Interchange) |
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Named after nearby Hakfar Hayarok |
Ramat HaSharon |  (Route 482) |
| 6 | מחלף מורשה (Morasha Interchange) |
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Named after location | Ramat HaSharon (Morasha quarter) |
 (Highway 4) |
| 8 | מחלף תקווה (Tikva Interchange) |
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Named after location | Petah Tikva, Yarqon Cemetery | Zevulun Hammer Road |
| 11 | מחלף ירקון (Yaqon Interchange) |
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Named after nearby Yarkon River |
Petah Tikva |  (Highway 40) |
| 15 | מחלף קסם (Kessem Interchange) |
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Named after nearby Kafr Qasim |
Rosh HaAyin |   (Highway 6/Route 444) |
| 17 | מחלף ראש העין מזרח (Rosh HaAyin Mizrah Interchange) |
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Rosh HaAyin East | Rosh HaAyin |  (Road 5050) |
| 21 | מחלף שער שומרון (Sha'ar Shomron Interchange) |
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Samaria Gate |  (Route 505) |
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| 33 | מחלף ברוכין (Bruchin Interchange) |
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Named after nearby Bruchin |
 (Route 446) |
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| 35 | מחלף ברקן (Barkan Interchange) |
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Named after location | Barkan |  (Road 4765) |
| 37 | צומת גיתי (Gitai Junction) |
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Named after Gitai Avisar |
East of Barkan | (Route 505) |
