The Petah Tikva municipality will begin work on a new central bus station in 2017. The new bus station, which will replace the old one, will contain a transportation center, commercial space, and offices for rent, sources inform "Globes."
Petah Tikva's current bus station was built in 1957 near the old city center, adjacent to main traffic arteries such as Highways 4, 5, and 6. In contrast to many central bus stations around Israel owned by Nitsba Holdings Ltd. (TASE: NTBA), the Petah Tikva municipality owns the land on which the city's current bus station stands. In 2007, the District Planning and Building Commission approved a new multi-purpose municipal construction plan including commerce, offices, sheltered housing, park and ride parking lots integrated with the light rail station, and an underground bus station. The plan also includes a roundabout at the intersection of Orlov and Bar Kochba Sts.
The Petah Tikva Development Company will be responsible for carrying out and managing the plan. It is expected to build the bus station and operate it on behalf of the municipality. The estimated NIS 250 million cost of the bus station will be financed by the municipality, various government agencies, and raising money.
Petah Tikva Development Company general manager Itamar Eldar said that the new bus station would integrate different means of transportation (buses, light rail, private cars, and bicycles), and would amalgamate the municipal bus routes of Petah Tikva and Greater Tel Aviv. "The bus station will have a park and ride parking lot with 700 parking spaces for light rail passengers and 100 other parking spaces," Eldar said. "The station will also include a 12,000-sq.m. office building, most of which will be occupied by municipal offices, and 7,000 sq.m. of commercial space. Construction will total 20,000 sq.m. of space above ground and 35,000 sq.m. of underground space."
Preparatory spadework is slated to begin in a few months. A temporary bus station will be built and begin operating in the second half of 2017. Work on the new bus station will then begin, and take another four years. Eldad also predicted that 30,000-40,000 people, 50 bus routes, and 1,000 buses would pass through the new station daily, as well as 1,500 private cars.
Petah Tikva Mayor Itzik Braverman said, "The new central bus station will rejuvenate the old city center, turning it from an out-of-date and aging area into a modern center of a major metropolitan city that will reach 300,000 residents in the coming decade."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 1, 2016
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