Last Updated on January 7, 2022

Israel’s 2 Toll Roads – The Carmel Tunnel & Road No. 6

Hebrew: כביש 6 ומנהרות הכרמל  

The Carmel Tunnel

The Carmel Tunnel (Minheret HaCarmel) is one of two toll roads in Israel. It is a relatively new toll construction in Haifa. A set of road tunnels in and around Haifa was built to reduce congestion in the industrial area and downtown area.  The tunnels provide an alternate route of reaching the Haifa Bay, the Checkpost, the Krayot (on the Haifa – Akko road) and the hi-tech park, MATAM at the southern entrance to the city thus avoiding the congestion caused by traffic in downtown Haifa.  The tunnels cut the current travel time,  from the Haifa South interchange in the west to the Checkpost interchange in the east, from 30–50 minutes down to 6 minutes.

The tunnels provide easy access to the following Haifa shopping centers:

• Haifa Mall at the southern entrance to Haifa
• Castra Mall at the southern entrance to Haifa
• The Grand Canyon in Neve Sha’anan
• The Cinemall at the Checkpost

The tunnels also provide easy access to Highway No. 1 – the coastal highway as well as to the new Sammy Offer Stadium in Tirat HaCarmel, also at the southern entrance of Haifa

Carmel Tunnel Fees & Toll

1. The Checkpost at the northern entrance of Haifa –> Grand Canyon segment
2. The Grand Canyon –> The southern entrance of Haifa

Payment can be made in the following 3 ways:

1. Cash at the toll booth
2. Video tolling using automatic number plate recognition for subscribers
3. Video or transponder tolling for Highway 6 subscribers

The current rates

Prices correct as at December 2015 and are subject to change.

Please note:  The navigational app – Waze – does not work in the Carmel Tunnels

The complex system of roads surrounding the tunnels is affectionately called ‘the spaghetti highway’ by Haifa residents.

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Highway 6 – Kvish Shesh

Hebrew: כביש 6

Highway 6 or Kvish Shesh is a major highway and toll road in Israel. The highway runs from the north to the south of the country starting at Ramat Menashe (between Yokneam and Zichron Yaakov) finally connecting to Highway No. 4 in the south of the country near Beer Sheva.  The road is 140 km long, all of which is a freeway.

Unlike the Carmel Tunnels, there are no toll booths. Highway 6 uses a system of cameras and transponders to toll vehicles automatically. For vehicles without a transponder, an automatic license plate recognition system is used. Monthly statements are mailed to users. The pricing scheme for Highway 6 is based on the number of segments a driver passes in a given trip. Each segment is the road span between two interchanges.

The pricing for non-subscribers up to 3 segments, is 19.39 NIS, for 4 segments –  23.68 NIS and for 5 or more segments – 33.23NIS. An additional fee is paid when driving through the ‘northern segment’ (NS), the cost of which is additional 13.28NIS. Pricing for motorcycles and heavy vehicles is different.  If a license plate is not located in Highway 6’s database then the bill is sent to the owner of the vehicle according to the car registration with the Israeli Ministry of Transportation. Prices correct as at December 2015 and are subject to change.

Renting a vehicle? Verify toll road rates with your car rental company.  Rental companies also charge an additional administration fee.

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Payments & Late Fees

The bill for Kvish Shesh is sent to you and includes a payment deadline.  Should you exceed the deadline, you will be charged late-fees.  The late-fees are steep so make sure you pay your bill on-time.  Bills can be paid online on the Kvish 6 website or at the post office or via a Kvish 6 customer service rep.