# Highway 44 (Israel)

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

| Km | Name | Meaning | Location | Intersecting routes |
| 0 | מחלף חולון (Holon Interchange) | named after biblical location (little) sand | Tel Aviv-Yafo, Holon | from Derech Ben-Zvi, Highway 20 Levi 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 location House of Dagon | Rishon LeZion Beit 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 HaRofeh Medical Center, Camp Yadin | entrance roads |
| 11.1 | | | Tzrifin Industrial Park, Sochnut Warehouses | local road |
| 11.7 | | | New Wholesale Market, Kiryat Shlomo Industrial Park, Nir Tzvi Industrial 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 Crossing 2 tracks | | Ramla | |
| Herzl Boulevard ||||||
| 14.5 | צומת רמלה צפון (Ramla North Junction) | Ramla North | Ramla | Herzl Blvd. |
| HaHashmona'im Street ||||||
| 14.9 | Railway Crossing 2 tracks | | Ramla | |
| 15 | | | Ramla Lod | HaHasmal St. to Yoseftal St. |
| 15.4 | north-westbound only | | Ramla Lod | Shmuel Tamir St. |
| 16.4 | צומת מעשיהו (Ma'asiyahu Junction) also called צומת תעבורה (Ta'avura Junction) | name for nearby Prison Transport | Ramla Lod | Route 434 (Tel-Hai St.) |
| 17.2 | מחלף רמלוד (Ramlod Interchange) | combination of Ramla and Lod | Ramla Lod | Highway 40 |
| 17.8 | south-eastbound only | | Ramla (east), al Mahta | Herzl Blvd. |
| 18.1 | | | Nesher Industrial Zone | Har Atzmon St. |
| 18.7 | צומת נשר (Nesher Junction) | Eagle, named after nearby Nesher Cement Factory & ult. Rambam, the great Eagle | Nesher Cement 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 6 northbound |
| 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 after Operation Nachshon | Mishmar David, Tal Shahar, Bekoa | Highway 3 |
| Derech HaGvura ||||||
| 32 | צומת צלפון (Tzelafon Junction) | named after ancient location possibly after Zelelponith ult. Shade come upon me | Tzelafon Gizo | HaZayit St. |
| 33.2 | צומת הראל (Har'el Junction) | named after Harel Brigade ult. Mountain of God | Har'el | Road 4243 |
| 34.4 | צומת כפר אוריה (Kfar Uria Junction) | ult. remembrance of biblical story of Samson'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 after biblical character Samson | Eshtaol, Beit Shemesh | Highway 38 |