Oct 24, 2012

Highway 38 to Bet Shemesh To Be Upgraded!

Good news about the upgrade of Highway 38, the highway to Bet Shemesh.

The spokesperson for the Ministry of Transportation released a statement saying that the project for upgrading Highway 38, from Shaar Ha'Gay until Bet Shemesh, will go immediately to tender.

the Ministry of Finance wanted to freeze all upcoming new tenders due to budget cuts, Highway 38 included, but Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz demanded the continuation of a number of infrastructure projects, including the Highway 38 project. Katz circumvented the Finance Ministry, with PM Netanyahu's approval, and got the government's legal counsel to direct the Finance Ministry to approve the project.

According to Minister Katz, the upgrade will shorten the travel time to Bet Shemesh and improve the security and safety of the road. The cost of the upgrade will be upwards of 800 million NIS, and should be completed within 3 years. The planning of the project and the actual work of the project will be done by the same contractor, which will ensure that the timeline for the project will be kept as short as possible.

According to the information released, there will be 5 medians, or barriers, dividing the lanes - at Derech Burma, at Khan Shaar Ha'Gay (the khan is the ruin by Shaar Ha'Gay built in the 1860s to act as a hostel for travelers to Jerusalem to stay overnight), by Messilat Tzion, by Tzomet Shimshon and by Naham. In addition, by Messilat Tzion there will be a ecological crossing path for animals, and by the entrance to Bet Shemesh there will be a bridge so the road will avoid the train tracks.

It will take a miracle for this to actually be completed within 3 years, but this is a land of miracles! And, the coming 3 years of roadworks are going to make an unbearable situation even worse, but the light at the end of the tunnel is not an oncoming train, but a better highway.
------------------------------------------------------
Reach thousands of readers with your ad by advertising on Life in Israel
------------------------------------------------------
at

3 comments:

  1. MiriamSOctober 24, 2012 5:51 PM

    If it was common knowledge that ALL tenders for infrastructure were frozen, then why was Mayor Abutbol making a display and fuss that it was to stop the building in RBS Gimmel?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rafi G.October 24, 2012 6:00 PM

    probably to have a better chance of getting it back on the table. by making it look like an anti-haredi decision, the agenda probably won some support and sympathizers.

    also, if you notice, the report credits Likud activist Shalom Edri with being very involved in getting the MoT to get the tender unfrozen. Abutbol originally accused Likud activists as having gotten it frozen as a way of stopping RBS C...

    ReplyDelete
  3. RBS residentOctober 24, 2012 6:19 PM

    Does this mean that they will have to dig up the water carrier that they just laid down next to the 38?

    ReplyDelete