New interchange to cut journey time to Ben Gurion airport

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The new interchange will have three bridges linking it to Road 1 and an entrance to the airport with nine lanes for security checks on cars.

Government ministries have approved a budget of hundreds of millions of shekels for construction of the Ben Gurion Airport West interchange on the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem highway (Road 1). The entire project, which will include the main entrance to Ben Gurion airport will cost NIS 1 billion, and will be completed in 2029. Work has already begun on the interchange just east of the Shappirim Interchange on Road 1.

The Israel Airports Authority and Netivei Israel National Transport Infrastructure Co., which will implement various parts of the project, will issue tenders in the coming days. The new interchange will have three bridges linking it to Road 1 and an entrance to the airport with nine lanes for security checks on cars.

When operational, the new entrance will end the current situation whereby drivers coming from Tel Aviv must drive several kilometers past the airport to the current entrance and then double-back over several kilometers to Terminal 3. By 2030 an estimated 30 million passengers will use Ben Gurion airport annually and the new interchange will also ease traffic congestion on Road 1 between the airport and Kfar Habad.

The decision to build the new interchange was taken more than 20 years ago when Terminal 3 was still under construction and an economic feasibility study was conducted for the plan in 2018, which justified moving ahead with the project. Initial work on the interchange began in November 2022.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 7, 2025.