Highway 90 is the longest Israeli road, at about 480 kilometres (300 mi), and stretches from Metula and the northern border with Lebanon, along the western side of the Sea of Galilee, through the Jordan River Valley, along the Dead Sea's western bank (making it the world's lowest road), through the Arabah valley, and until Eilat and the southern border with Egypt on the Red Sea. The central section of the road traverses the Israeli-occupied West Bank. While it passes near the city of Jericho, it runs through Area C and does not enter areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
The Arava Highway is the main link from the resort and port city of Eilat towards the country's centre and, at times, handles a heavy mix of local, tourist and commercial trucking traffic on the two-lane road (one lane in each direction). That, coupled with the monotone nature of the desert landscape around it and the lack of a physical barrier between the opposing lanes of traffic, makes the ...Read more
Highway 90 is the longest Israeli road, at about 480 kilometres (300 mi), and stretches from Metula and the northern border with Lebanon, along the western side of the Sea of Galilee, through the Jordan River Valley, along the Dead Sea's western bank (making it the world's lowest road), through the Arabah valley, and until Eilat and the southern border with Egypt on the Red Sea. The central section of the road traverses the Israeli-occupied West Bank. While it passes near the city of Jericho, it runs through Area C and does not enter areas controlled by the Palestinian Authority.
The Arava Highway is the main link from the resort and port city of Eilat towards the country's centre and, at times, handles a heavy mix of local, tourist and commercial trucking traffic on the two-lane road (one lane in each direction). That, coupled with the monotone nature of the desert landscape around it and the lack of a physical barrier between the opposing lanes of traffic, makes the road particularly prone to traffic accidents, which often occur at high speeds – earning it the nickname "The Red Road."
The northernmost section of the highway, from Tiberias to Metula, is the oldest, having existed since the Ottoman period.
Until the 1960s, a series of separate roads existed where the highway is today. After the Six-Day War, a section in the northern Dead Sea area was completed, making these roads contiguous. In the early 1980s, the road was assigned the number 90.
In October 2007, Israeli Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz announced that the 170 km section of Highway 90 between Arava Junction and Eilat would be renovated, widened and repaved in stages to a four-lane configuration with a physical barrier in the middle and rest stops every 45 kilometres.[1] Initial announced funding was NIS125 million; the total project budget for all stages of widening is NIS2.3 billion (equivalent to over US$650 million in 2013 dollars). As of the fall of 2013, 40 km of the highway had been widened by the National Roads Company, from Eilat to Yotvata.[2]
On 9 November 2018, Route 90 collapsed above Kidron Stream, 10 km south to Kalya, near Ovnat, due to a flood which created a sinkhole.[3][4][5]
As of 2020, the section between Yotvata and Ketura (to the intersection with Highway 40) is undergoing widening. No date has been set yet for widening the long stretch of highway between Ketura and the Arava Junction.
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