Work complete on first leg of Road 1 Motza Bridge

The entire Motza Bridge will extend 800 meters, at a height of 30 meters.

By SHARON UDASIN
Updated: JULY 28, 2015 03:27
Ma’ariv Bridge (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Ma’ariv Bridge
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Workers have completed the first leg of Route 1’s Motza elevated highway, fulfilling another stage in the effort to overhaul the main traffic artery between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The work was carried out by the Netivei Israel-National Transport Infrastructure Company Ltd. and was announced on Monday.
The last link of the roadway running in the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv direction was secured on Monday. Work should be complete on the leg in the opposite direction by the end of 2015.
Each side contains three traffic lanes and a shoulder. The elevated road comprises 250 such links, each about 3.5 meters in length and weighing 70 tons, the company said.
The entire roadway will extend for some 800 meters at a height of 30 meters, according to the construction company.
An ecological bridge to permit animals to freely cross above the highway will also be opened to traffic in the Sha’ar Hagai area in about two months. The level of the road in the Sha’ar Hagai area has also been raised eight meters as part of efforts to double the road width, without having to cut into the sides of the wadi.
The company said that the new roadway will enable faster and safer travel to and from the nation’s capital, particularly once the Motza section is connected to the future road, which is to include 16 tunnels.
“The new Jerusalem Route 1 is one of the most important infrastructure projects in Israel, from both a planning perspective and a national perspective, and symbolically,” Netivei Israel said.