Originally paved in 1861 as part of the highway to
Jaffa, the road quickly became a focal point for the
19th century expansion out of Jerusalem's Old City walls, and early neighbourhoods like the
Russian Compound,
Nahalat Shiva, and
Mahane Yehuda blossomed around it, as well as
Shaare Zedek hospital. Proximity to the artery quickly became a measure of real-estate value in the booming city. Traffic originally consisted of camels and mules, and the route was eventually improved enough to allow for horse-drawn
carriages. The German
Templers, who established the
German Colony, first began a regular carriage service along the road to Jaffa. During the period of the
British Mandate, the street was further developed with the establishment of many central institutions including the city hall, the city's central post office, the
Anglo-Palestine Bank, and the
Generali office building. The buildings on its easternmost end constructed along the Old City walls were destroyed in July 1944 so as not to obscure the city's historic view. During this period the street took on its modern shape, and it became the heart of the city's developing
central business district as most commerce left the Old City. During the city's 19-year division between Israel and Jordan after the
1948 Arab–Israeli War, which separated the Old City from much of modern Jerusalem, Jaffa Road's primacy as the city-centre was unchallenged. The
Jerusalem Municipality, Jerusalem's main post office, the
Mahane Yehuda Market are located on Jaffa Road. As a bustling thoroughfare, it has been targeted by terrorist groups and some of the most devastating terrorist attacks from the late 1960s onward have been carried out on this street, among them the
Zion Square refrigerator bombing (1975), the
1984 Jaffa Road attack, the
Jaffa Road bus bombings (1996), the
Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing (2001), and the
Jaffa Street bombing (2002). For much of its hundred-year existence, Jaffa Road has served as Jerusalem's central artery. The municipality responded to problems in the struggling city-centre through focused efforts to redevelop the street; Jaffa Road was limited to public transit (buses and taxis) in an attempt to divert
traffic congestion from the area, and became the centrepiece of a new development plan for revitalising the downtown. A tunnel was excavated under the street at
Tzahal Square in 2004 to allow the city's
central north–south route to bypass it. In order to accommodate the new system, new utility lines were laid under one side of the road, which was also widened. 180 properties were evacuated to allow for the road's improvement. The
Jerusalem Light Rail began operating in 2011. At the western end of Jaffa Road, opposite the
Central Bus Station, it passes over Jaffa Road via
Santiago Calatrava's
Chords Bridge, which serves as an architectural beacon for the area. ==Significant buildings and landmarks==