Kerem Tunnel (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: מנהרת כרם, ''Minheret Kerem'') is a

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

tunnel A tunnel is an underground or undersea passageway. It is dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, or laid under water, and is usually completely enclosed except for the two portals common at each end, though there may be access and ve ...

in southwest

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. It is currently the only one in Israel. The tunnel was originally built as a

utility tunnel A utility tunnel, utility corridor, or utilidor is a passage built underground or above ground to carry utility lines such as electricity, steam, water supply pipes, and sewer pipes. Communications utilities like fiber optics, cable television, ...

in the 1990s by

Hagihon Hagihon Ltd. (Hebrew: הגיחון) is the municipal water and waste water works corporation for the city of Jerusalem, Israel. Since 2010, Hagihon also services the neighboring towns of Mevaseret Zion and Abu Gosh. Hagihon is Israel's larges ...

(Jerusalem's water company) to run a sewage pipe from the city's southwestern neighborhoods to the Sorek stream

sewage treatment plant Sewage treatment is a type of wastewater treatment which aims to remove contaminants from sewage to produce an effluent that is suitable to discharge to the surrounding environment or an intended reuse application, thereby preventing water p ...

. The tunnel is 2.1 kilometers long and 3 meter wide. In 2018 the tunnel was officially declared part of the Jerusalem Ring Path, a 42-kilometer cycling route, connecting the path between the

valley of Rephaim The Valley of Rephaim (, ''Emeq Rephaim'') (; , R.V.) is a valley descending southwest from Jerusalem to Nahal Sorek below. It is an ancient route from the coastal plain to the Judean Hills, probably named after the legendary race of giants. Em ...

and the valley of

Motza Motza, also Mozah or Motsa, (, ) is a neighbourhood on the western edge of Jerusalem. It is located in the Judaean Mountains, 600 metres above sea level, connected to Jerusalem by the Jerusalem–Tel Aviv highway, Highway 16, and the winding mo ...

. The Tunnel's southern entrance is in the Rephaim Park, below

Ein Lavan Ein Lavan () is a spring located in the outskirts of Jerusalem, 2 km east of the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. It lies in the Judean Mountains. Ein Lavan springs in the Lavan Ridge, just above the northern bank of Nahal Refaim, and is surrounded ...

, and its northern entrance is in the valley of

Ein Kerem Ein Karem (; )Sharon, 2004, p155/ref> also Ein Kerem or Ain Karem, is a historic mountain village southwest of Jerusalem, presently a neighborhood in the outskirts of the modern city, within the Jerusalem District in Israel. It is the site of th ...

, about half a kilometer from the Kerem junction. The tunnel was opened for cyclists in September 2022. During the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

the tunnel was closed between October 7, 2023 until December 5, 2023.

Opening hours

* Summer time: 06:00—19:00 * Winter time: 07:00—16:30

References

{{coord, display=title Cycling in Israel Transport in Jerusalem Tunnels in Israel Cycling tunnels

Opening hours

See also

References