Highway 44 is an arterial road in central Israel. It connects Tel Aviv-Yafo and Holon to Ramla, Lod and the Shefela. It is numbered as a north–south road and follows a north-west to south-east path.

Route description Highway 44 begins in the coastal plain at the south-eastern edge of Tel Aviv at Holon Interchange with the Ayalon Highway. It travels south-easterly, passing Mikve Yisrael, Holon's industrial zones, and Azor. It then crosses Highway 4 at HaShiv'a Interchange. This section is named HaShiv'a Road in memory of seven guards killed in 1948. Southeast of HaShiv'a Interchange the road crosses Beit Dagan Junction with Route 412, which connects it with Rishon Letzion and Yehud. The road then passes the Volkani Institute, the Tzrifin Military base, Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center and various industrial parks.

As Highway 44 enters the municipality of Ramla, it is briefly named Herzl Boulevard. Historically, the road continued straight through beautiful downtown Ramla. Since the mid-1990s, the road makes a left turn at Ramla North Junction onto HaHashmoa'im Street, bypassing Ramla along its northern edge. Just east of Ramla, the road passes Ramlod Interchange with Highway 40 and rejoins the original route, continuing past the Nesher Industrial Zone and the Nesher Cement Factory, one of the most impressive landmarks in the area.

Historically, just past Nesher, the road connected at Gezer Junction with Route 424 to the Gezer Regional Council. That junction was moved 1 km. further south to accommodate Nesharim Interchange with Highway 6 and Route 431. The road then continues past several agricultural communities until Nachshon Junction. Until this point, the road has travelled with almost no changes in elevation, averaging 75 meters above sea level. After Nachshon Junction, it begins a slow ascent into the foothills of the Judean Mountains, passing several more agricultural communities and national forests. The road finally ends at Shimshon Junction with Highway 38.

History For centuries prior, while Jaffa and its seaport served as the gateway into Palestine, the section of Highway 44 between Jaffa and Ramla formed part of the historic highway connecting Jaffa to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The historic highway then followed modern highway 424 to Latrun, and continued to Jerusalem along the route of modern Highway 1.

After the establishment of the State, this road operated for many years as one of the main routes connecting the coastal plain with Jerusalem via Highway 38 and Sha'ar HaGai (Bab al-Wad). In 1948, the Latrun section of the old road to Jerusalem (Highway 1) was taken over by Jordan. Traffic between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem was diverted to a new route called "Kvish HaGvura" (Road of Valor) of which Highway 44 served as the connection between Nachshon Junction and Shimshon Junction with Highway 38 leading to Sha'ar HaGai.

Future The Israel Ministry of Transport has announced a grade separation of Highway 44 with the Lod-Na'an Railway line at HaHashmonain Street adjacent to Ramla North Junction. The road will be raised to pass over the rail line. The estimated completion date is 2014 and the cost will be 160M Shekels.

Junctions and Interchanges

KmNameTypeMeaningLocationIntersecting routes 0 מחלף חולון(Holon Interchange) named after biblical location(little) sand Tel Aviv-Yafo,Holon from Derech Ben-Zvi, Highway 20Levi Eshkol Blvd Derech HaShiv'a 2.4 Holon,Azor HaMakhtesh St. 2.9 צומת אזור(Azor Junction) Azor Herzl St. 3.3 Holon HaMelakha St. 3.7 Azor Kaplan St. 4.8 מחלף השבעה(HaShiv'a Interchange) The Seven Holon,Azor,Mishmar HaShiv'a Highway 4 5.4 westbound only Mishmar HaShiv'a Tzvi Zeira St. 6.1 צומת בית דגן(Beit Dagan Junction) named after ancient locationHouse of Dagon Rishon LeZionBeit Dagan Route 412 9 צומת כפר חב"ד(Kfar Chabad Junction) Chabad Village Kfar Habad Road 4402 9.7 צומת ראשון מזרח(Rishon Mizrah Junction) Rishon East Rishon LeZion Derech Chaim Herzog 10.4 צומת צריפין(Tzrifin Junction) named after former location Tzrifin Military Base,Assaf HaRofehMedical Center,Camp Yadin entrance roads 11.1 TzrifinIndustrial Park,Sochnut Warehouses local road 11.7 New Wholesale Market,Kiryat ShlomoIndustrial Park,Nir TzviIndustrial Park local roads 12.7 צומת ניר צבי(Nir Tzvi Junction) Zvi's Meadow Be'er Ya'akov,Nir Tzvi Arava St., Road 4313 14.1 Railway Crossing2 tracks Ramla Herzl Boulevard 14.5 צומת רמלה צפון(Ramla North Junction) Ramla North Ramla Herzl Blvd. HaHashmona'im Street 14.9 Railway Crossing2 tracks Ramla 15 RamlaLod HaHasmal St.to Yoseftal St. 15.4 north-westbound only RamlaLod Shmuel Tamir St. 16.4 צומת מעשיהו(Ma'asiyahu Junction)also calledצומת תעבורה(Ta'avura Junction) name for nearby PrisonTransport RamlaLod Route 434(Tel-Hai St.) 17.2 מחלף רמלוד(Ramlod Interchange) combination ofRamla and Lod RamlaLod Highway 40 17.8 south-eastbound only Ramla (east),al Mahta Herzl Blvd. 18.1 NesherIndustrial Zone Har Atzmon St. 18.7 צומת נשר(Nesher Junction) Eagle,named after nearbyNesher Cement Factory & ult.Rambam, the great Eagle NesherCement Factory 19 מחלף נשרים(Nesharim Interchange) Eagles Ramla,Lod,Yad Rambam Highway 6 Route 431 20 צומת גזר(Gezer Junction) Carrot Gezer Regional Council Route 424 20.4 exit from Highway 6northbound 22.8 צומת בית אוזיאל(Beit Uziel Junction) House of Uziel Beit Uziel local road 24.3 צומת פתחיה(Petahya Junction) Entrance of God Petahya,Pedaya Road 4243 27.4 צומת כרמי יוסף(Karmei Yosef Junction) Yosef's Vineyards Karmei Yosef Road 4243 30.4 צומת נחשון(Nahshon Junction) Pioneer (literary Hebrew)named afterOperation Nachshon Mishmar David,Tal Shahar,Bekoa Highway 3 Derech HaGvura 32 צומת צלפון(Tzelafon Junction) named after ancient locationpossibly after Zelelponithult. Shade come upon me TzelafonGizo HaZayit St. 33.2 צומת הראל(Har'el Junction) named after Harel Brigadeult. Mountain of God Har'el Road 4243 34.4 צומת כפר אוריה(Kfar Uria Junction) ult. remembrance ofbiblical story ofSamson's encounter with the lion at Timnah Kfar Uria Road 4243 36.9 צומת תרום(Tarum Junction) Exalted Tarum Road 4243 37.1 צומת תעוז(Ta'oz Junction) Stronghold Ta'oz Road 4243 41.1 צומת שמשון(Shimshon Junction) Named afterbiblical characterSamson Eshtaol,Beit Shemesh Highway 38

References

See also List of highways in Israel