Problem passing path string to web service function via jQuery.ajax

I need to make a call to an asp.net web service function through jQuery and pass the path of the asp.net application to it. The way I am trying to do it (the code is on the asp.net page, like the aspx file):

    var d = "{'str':'<%=System.DateTime.Now.ToString() %>', 'applicationPath':'<%=GetApplicationPath() %>'}";

    $.ajax({ type: "POST",
        url: "http://localhost/testwebsite/TestWebService.asmx/Test",
        data: d,
        contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
        dataType: "json",
        error: function (xhr, status, error) {
            var err = eval("(" + xhr.responseText + ")");
            alert(err.Message);
        },
        success: function (msg) {

        }
    });

      

        
        
        
      

    

This is what the GetApplicationPath method looks like:

protected string GetApplicationPath() 
{
    return HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(Request.PhysicalApplicationPath);
}

      

        
        
        
      

    

And here is the header of the web service function I'm trying to call:

public void Test(string str, string applicationPath) 

      

        
        
        
      

    

The function call works well, but the applicationPath parameter is not being passed correctly. When I debug it, I see the backslashes are removed, the function gets "C: ProjectsSamplesmytestwebsite" instead of "C: \ Projects \ Samples \ mytestwebsite \".

How can I overcome this?