Dan consortium wins Rishon, Coastal Road fast lane tenders

The Netiv Le'Ir consortium led by Lapidot Capital and Dan in partnership with Electra Ltd. (TASE: ELTR) and Afikim has won the huge Netivei Ayalon tenders to build and operate the fast lanes into Tel Aviv from Rishon Lezion in the south and the Coastal Road in the north. The consortium beat rival bids from: Shapir Engineering and Industry (TASE: SPEN) and Superbus; Shikun and Binui Holdings Ltd. (TASE: SKBN) and Egged; and Minrav Holdings Ltd. (TASE: MNRV) and Metropolitan.

The northern fast lane will extend from Netanya to a large transport hub with 7,500 parking spaces near Kibbutz Shefayim north of Herzliya and continue to the Ayalon Highway. The southern fast lane will include a transport hub with 3,500 parking space in the 1,000 center near Moshe Dayan Station in West Rishon and fast lane along Road 20 (Ayalon South) into Tel Aviv. The consortium will have options to open commercial outlets at the transport hubs and will provide electric charging points.

Five shuttle bus routes will be offered from both the northern and southern hubs to: Hakirya-Ministry of Defense in Kaplan Street; Kikar Hamedina; Rothschild Boulevard; Kiryat Atidim; and the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange. The shuttle services will be provided by a fleet of 200 electric buses.

The project will cost an estimated NIS 2.5 billion to complete and after financing is closed, the Rishon fast lane will be built in the first stage and the Netanya fast lane in the second stage. The entire project is due for completion by 2024.

A fast lane already operates at the eastern entrance to Tel Aviv along Road 1 from Ben Gurion airport with a transport hub near Shapirim Interchange, which is currently being enlarged due to its popularity. A fourth fast lane is planned from Highway 5 near the Morasha Interchange, northeast of Tel Aviv.