- Highway 57 (Israel)
Highway 57 is an east-west
highway through centralIsrael and theWest Bank . In the past, it was an uninterrupted road fromNetanya , a city on theMediterranean coast in the west, toDamia Bridge across theJordan River in the east. The road existed in its full length from the time of the British Mandate, and parts of it are even older. Today the road is separated into three unconnected parts: the first from Netanya toNitzanei Oz interchange at Highway 6, the second from there to anIsrael Defense Forces checkpoint inBeka'ot in the easternShomron , and the third from there until Damia Bridge. The middle portion of the road between Nitzanei Oz and Beka'ot passes throughTulkarm andNablus , and most of it is located inArea A andArea B controlled by thePalestinian Authority . Various restrictions on traffic exist in these areas.Western portion of the route
The western portion of Route 57 is located entirely within Israel proper, and crosses the narrow strip of land between the Mediterranean coast and the Green Line. It is 15 km long from Netanya to Tulkarm. The border between Israel and
Jordan was located at Tulkarm between 1948 and 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank in theSix Day War . Today it is not possible to continue from Israel proper into Tulkarm because theIsraeli West Bank barrier blocks the road, but it is possible to enter theNitzanei Shalom industrial zone from the western (Israeli) side. This portion of the road is a divided highway with two lanes on each side.Fact|date=May 2008Central portion of the route
The second portion of the route, from
Tulkarm viaNablus to Beka'ot junction, is a continuous road with one carriageway. In the first part from Tulkarm untilEinav junction it is open only toPalestinian traffic, and it connects Tulkarm and surrounding villages toNur a-Shams andAnabta , and from there to Nablus. This road roughly follows the path ofNahal Shekhem ("Nahal" meanscreek ).Apparently the road previously passed through the center of the city of Tulkarm, but today it passes through the northern part of the city. This portion of the route served as part of the primary route connecting northern and central Israel before the construction of Highway 4. This old route went from
Haifa south viaJenin ,Tulkarm andQalqilya toTel Aviv .For this part of the present-day route there is a
bypass road designated for Israeli traffic that was constructed after theOslo Accords ,Route 557 . It bypasses the region from the south, and passes next to the communities ofQalansawe ,Tayibe ,Avnei Hefetz ,Shufa ,Einav andBeit Lid , and reunites with Highway 57 at Einav junction, next to an IDF checkpoint, located on the Palestinian part of the route. From Einav junction toShavei Shomron junction, the road is jointly accessible to Israelis and Palestinians. From Shavei Shomron to Nablus the traffic is again exclusively Palestinian. The road passes throughDir Sharf , Beit Iba checkpoint and the center of the city of Nablus, based on the path of Nahal Shekhem. From Nablus the road is a single carriageway, based on the path ofNahal Tirtza (Wadi al-Far'ah) which descends from Nablus into theJordan Rift Valley . In this portion until the IDF checkpoint at the moshavBeka'ot the traffic is exclusively limited to Palestinians.Eastern portion of the route
From Beka'ot checkpoint, which stands at the junction of the northern Alon Highway (
Route 578 ), the road continues along the path of Nahal Tirtza in a southeast direction. This area is under Israeli control and the road is jointly open to Israeli and Palestinian traffic. For a 2-km stretch the road overlaps with the Alon Highway, then separates from it at Hamra junction, where the central Alon Highway (Route 508 ) begins. Highway 57 continues until theDamia Bridge over theJordan River , which functions as aborder crossing for commerce between Israel andJordan .ee also
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List of highways in Israel
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