Barkat Wants to Derail Light Train, Tear Down Bridge
(IsraelNN.com) Newly elected Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat said he wants to stop the light railway project and tear down the controversial Bridge of Strings. The high tech millionaire harshly criticized the mass transportation project, which has cost far more than originally budgeted. He said the money should have been invested in education and social projects.
Barkat also wants to tear down the Bridge of Strings, which is part of the delayed light railway system. The towering finger-like structure that has been greeted with widespread criticism for ruining the view of the city.
Barkat seems much too sensible to have make such statements. So I tried searching the other Israeli news sites until I found a more complete article. Much of the news on Arutz 7 is gleaned from sites which employ reporters, not just "summarizers." The Jerusalem Post has a few more details, which make more sense:
Barkat told reporters he would weigh "preferable alternatives" to the repeatedly-delayed light rail project in the city, which he defined as "megalomanic," including state-of-the-art buses to run where the track has already been laid.
Obviously, what's done is done, and now the smartest thing would be to figure out how to utilize it in the best and most financially wise interests of the city of Jerusalem.
At present, the neighborhoods in "stage one" of the lightrail are nightmares. You can see pictures here and here.
2 comments:
Shavua Tov!
I heard Barkat say in an interview that operating the light train line would cost five times as much as comparable bus lines. In the same interview he said that he wanted to tear up the train tracks that had already been laid. If it really costs five times as much to run trains as buses then it makes sense economically to replace the tracks with roads that buses can use, especially since it seems that there won't be much room for cars when the track is in place. How exactly is there going to be room for cars/buses, pedestrians and a train on Jaffa Street? What is the city going to do - force stores to relocate and bulldoze buildings to widen the street?
I haven't seen independent confirmation of Barkat's economic claims.
Hadassa
I trust that Barkat is checking it all out. He's not stupid, nor naive. He seems to care sincerely about Jerusalem. OK, he's also terribly ambitious.
Let's see what he does.
Post a Comment