Although the Ministry of Transport and the Ayalon Highways Company notified the High Court of Justice last week that work on the Yehudit pedestrian bridge over Tel Aviv's Ayalon highway would begin in January, work is liable to be postponed again. Minister of Welfare and Social Services Haim Katz is demanding that work on the bridge on the Sabbath be reduced. He ordered Ministry of Welfare and Social Services director general Dr. Avigdor Kaplan to summon people from the Ministry of Transport and Ayalon Highways to order to induce them to consider alternatives to work on the Sabbath.
"During my entire term, I kept the necessary balance between the need to build infrastructure and the holiness of the Sabbath. I am doing the same now. I demanded that professional staff in my ministry show me proper alternatives, and I hope that we will find the golden mean this time, too," Katz told "Globes" today.
According to the solution found by the High Court of Justice, and after making arrangements with Israel Police, Ayalon Highways, which is building the bridge, last week asked Israel Railways to coordinate the beginning of the work. According to a letter obtained by "Globes," putting up the steel gantries for electrification between the La Guardia interchange and the Hashalom interchange was scheduled to begin on Friday, January 25, 2019 at 5:00 PM and continue until the next day. The second round of work, between the Keren Kayemet interchange and the La Guardia interchange, was scheduled for Friday, February 1, 2019. The ensuing four rounds of work were scheduled for weekends in March and April, including closing the Ayalon Highway for 24 hours on Friday-Saturday.
Sources associated with Katz emphasized to "Globes" that Ayalon Highways originally asked for permission for only four Jews to work on the Sabbath, while the request submitted last week listed 21 Jews, leading him to ask Ayalon Highways to provide alternatives.
Among other things, Ayalon Highways' letter stated that in order to carry out the work, it was necessary to completely close Highway 20 for 20 consecutive hours six times (three for the northbound side and three for the southbound side) on Saturday only, "when railway traffic stops, auto traffic is minimal, and the disturbance to daily life is minimal. On Saturday night, a blockade of this type cannot be approved for such a long time, for both public and safety reasons."
The Yehudit bridge project started a decade ago. The planners' main idea was to reinforce the connection between eastern and southern Tel Aviv and the city center. Construction of the bridge is designed to encourage pedestrians and bicycle riders. Residents of Ramat Gan and Givatayim will be able to reach the Tel Aviv city center without vehicles, thereby reducing the number of cars on the road in the Tel Aviv area.
Following the decade-long planning stage, work on the Yehudit bridge was scheduled to begin in late August 2018, but was canceled because the haredit (Jewish ultra-Orthodox) political parties opposed desecration of the Sabbath. Ministry of Transport ordered the suspension of the beginning of the work, which required complete closing off of the Ayalon Highway for six consecutive weekends. The Tel Aviv municipality responded by petitioning the High Court of Justice, and demanded that Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz explain why he had suspended the work.
Following criticism of his action by the High Court of Justice, Yisrael Katz announced last week that work would begin this month. He said that the work had been postponed from last August until January to enable Israel Railways to complete its preparations for the railway electrification project, which had a higher priority than work on the bridge.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 15, 2019
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