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The light rail works endanger the residents of Jerusalem: "May cost lives"

Ephraim walked down the street and was seriously injured by a pipe thrown as part of the works, Meir fell into a sewer pit on the way to the parking lot, Batsheva broke her arm and was hit in the head.

This is how the light rail infrastructure complexes in Jerusalem have become a dangerous safety hazard for drivers and pedestrians

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• Light Rail

• Jerusalem

Shlomi Heller

Monday, 19 July 2021, 09:29 Updated: Friday, 23 July 2021, 09:34

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Light rail works in Jerusalem are gaining momentum, and pedestrians have to deal with hazards that endanger their safety. As the development work in the capital progresses, the magnitude of the hazards is felt even more. Traffic on the roads is reduced, while many sidewalks become impassable to pedestrians. The closure of dozens of roads, along with the blocking of sidewalks, exposes road users to many dangers that sometimes cause them particularly serious injuries.

Thus, last month, 58-year-old Rabbi Ephraim Cohen walked on a sidewalk on Bar Ilan Street in the city, where the route of the green line of the light rail in Jerusalem is currently being built. Suddenly, a bus traveling next to him collided with a pipe - which was thrown as part of the works - and seriously injured it. The rabbi is being treated at Shaare Zedek Hospital in the city, suffering from a severe head injury.

Since the incident, Cohen's condition has stabilized and he has been transferred to the Rehabilitation Department at Sheba Hospital - Tel Hashomer.

The police investigation into the matter has not yet been completed, but according to the testimony of those present at the scene, the pipe deteriorated from the work site towards the road - a safety failure that caused Cohen's serious injury.

The Jerusalem municipality stated that "the incident on Bar Ilan Street is known and is being investigated by the police. Therefore, we are prevented from commenting on it."

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Fear of dangerous safety hazards.

The light rail works in Jerusalem (Photo: Walla !, Shlomi Heller)

Another safety incident occurred about two weeks ago, when Shabbat Sheva Rubin, a resident of the city, left her home in the Gilo neighborhood and walked on Haganat Street, where development work is currently underway to establish the light rail route. "There was an irrigation pipe that protruded, so I skipped it, but I missed another pipe that was there," she recalled. "I fell, opened my head, broke my nose, got hit in the knee, shoulder and hand."

"I wanted to check if there were any other residents affected by the work there," she continued. "That's why I posted on Facebook. There were some who shared that they were also injured, one with a rib fracture, one injured in the head. I do not plan to go over it in silence - I filed a lawsuit. I have lived here for 20 years and never fell. I did not fall because I reached the right age To fall, I am very stable and a healthy woman, and when everything is fine in the neighborhood, there is no reason for that to happen. "

The Jerusalem Municipality stated that "the infrastructure works of the light rail at its age are carried out on a large scale and in many parts of the neighborhood. This is in order to finish on time and maybe even ahead of time. "Safety and ongoing control of the course of the works. Sometimes, inquiries come from the residents about hazards and malfunctions from the area; any inquiries are dealt with immediately by the project management and the community relations team."

"I do not plan to go over it in silence."

Resident injured by light rail hazards (Photo: Walla !, official website)

Another incident that took place eight months ago, testifies to the way in which the responsible parties roll over the responsibility for safety hazards created on the streets of the capital. Meir, a resident of the Geula neighborhood, stumbled into a sewer shaft as he walked toward a parking lot in the area. "To my astonishment, his cover was loose and lying on top of the pit in a dangerous and invisible manner," he testified in a lawsuit he filed in the small claims court against the Jerusalem municipality for NIS 4,000. "The place is a public area under the responsibility of the Jerusalem Municipality."

Meir, who suffered dry blows to his body and his clothes were torn, hurried to report to the police about the open pit and the danger it poses.

Afterwards, he turned to the municipality and complained about the open pit, but there they hurried to transfer the responsibility to the sewage and water company of Jerusalem, "Gihon".

Representatives of the company who arrived at the scene informed the resident that the address for dealing with the hazard was the municipal infrastructure company "Moriah".

Meir did not give up and turned to her as well, but there they turned to the contractor for the works in the field.

After meeting with the contractor, he too recently shied away from responsibility and claimed that at the time the open pit was discovered they had not carried out any work in the area at all.

"It is clear to me that one of the parties is not telling the truth, and that is to say the least," Meir claimed in the lawsuit.

The factors roll over the responsibility.

Safety hazard in the light rail area (Photo: Walla! System, official website)

Shlomo Yehoshua, social activist and director of the "Jerusalem Development Problems" Facebook group, claimed in a conversation with Walla! Because he "sees here negligence, negligence of supervisors, of project managers, of contractors, in fact, the whole engineering chain in the Jerusalem municipality operates in poor planning, and whoever pays the price is the little citizen."

"For example, a separation fence between a job site and a road should be with professional huggers and a weight at the bottom, so that they do not fall on vehicles or passers-by - but for the most part - this is not the case," Joshua continued. "In practice, in most cases, settings are pirated by twisted iron wire and in many cases do not have the weight that stabilizes them. Every day that there are no casualties in the light rail works route it is a miracle, if the current situation continues it could cost human lives."

The Jerusalem police refused to specify whether, following Ephraim Cohen's injury, the project managers were summoned for investigation, as well as if the work was stopped until the circumstances of the serious accident were clarified, stating that "immediately upon receiving the complaint, the police We will continue to investigate the case with the thoroughness, professionalism and sensitivity required in order to arrive at the investigation of the truth. "

The Jerusalem Municipality stated in all cases that "obviously, in such an extensive and substantial process, there are also faults. The municipality and the execution companies do everything to provide the best treatment for any breakdown along the way."

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