"The Ministry of Transport is concentrating its efforts on the Netivei Israel plan, to link the periphery to the center of the country, by turning roads in the south and north into higher speed roads, and to reduce urban congestion in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and Jerusalem," Minister of Transport Israel Katz told the Knesset Finance Committee today.
Katz said that the project contributed directly and indirectly to the war against traffic accidents. He added that there were objective obstacles to moving the transport plan forward, including nature conservation, archeological sites, and graves.
Finance Committee member MK Shai Hermesh (Kadima) proposed raising the speed limit on Road 6 (the Yitzhak Rabin or Cross-Israel Highway) from 110 km/h to 130 km/h, which he said is common practice of tolls roads elsewhere in the world. He said that this would give substance to the slogan "bringing the periphery closer to the center".
MK Jacob Edery (Kadima) objected to lowering the legal driving age, saying that it should actually be raised.
Beit Shemesh Mayor Moshe Abutbul raised the problem of Road 38, which connects the town to the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. He said that the road was a "bloodbath", given the increase in fatal traffic accidents on it, and for acceleration of the road's upgrade. He asked Finance Committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) to upgrade both Road 38 and Road 444, which gives access to the town of Elad, saying that they do not suit the size of the populations served or the number of road accidents.
Ministry of Transport deputy director general for infrastructures and development Yitzhak Hoffman astonished the Finance Committee by saying that the upgrade of Road 38 would take until 2013. He cited land expropriation procedures and approval of the development plan as the reasons for the delay. Gafni replied that he would convene a committee meeting with the director generals of the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Interior, and the Ministry of Housing and Construction to expedite the plan.
Ministry of Transport director general Yaakov Ganot advised against raising the speed limit on Road 6, and said that the ministry was seeking to reduce traffic on Road 6 and on Road 2 (the Coastal Highway) by subsidizing trucks' use of Road 6 at night.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on November 25, 2010
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2010