The project that is supposed to shorten the trip to the north is stuck, and in the meantime is the main cause of the traffic jam

The widening of the section of road between the Ein Tut interchange and Yokneam was launched in 2019 under the management of "Cross Israel" and was to be completed after two years.

Now, after 3 years, the project is still underway and leaves about 100,000 drivers a day frustrated by the delays and accidents.

"If we need to bring in another 100 workers, let them bring"

Yoav Itiel

10/03/2022

Thursday, 10 March 2022, 07:30 Updated: 08:17

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In the video: A query regarding the section between Ein Tut and Yokneam on Road 6 (Photo: Knesset Channel)

The project, which is supposed to shorten the journey to the north, is stuck, and in the meantime is the main cause of the traffic jam that is driving drivers crazy.

This is the section of road between the Ein Tut interchange and Yokneam, in which the former Road 70 is widened, in both directions, doubling from two lanes to four lanes in each direction and turning it into Road 6.

This is a project with an investment of NIS 440 million for only five kilometers. Exceptional - a statement that the company disagrees with.

Over the years the company has built 13 sections of the road including 24 interchanges, maintained and widened its lanes and built transverse roads calling to it.

Today, Highway 6 is the main transportation artery in Israel, serving about 220,000 vehicles daily and can be traveled 188 km, from north to south, without traffic lights in less than two hours. At the gate to the north - Yokneam.

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"It's a terrible traffic jam, which has been bothering us for years."

Section of the road between the Ein Tut interchange and Yokneam (Photo: Walla !, Yoav Itiel)

"There are no alternatives" (Photo: Walla !, Yoav Itiel)

The project for this section of road, which was launched in February 2019, was supposed to last about two and a half years, but it has been going on for three years, the works there are crawling, and so is the passing traffic, which is estimated at 100,000 vehicles a day on weekdays.

However, even on weekends, long traffic jams are experienced there.

Last Friday it took about an hour to cross this short section in the direction of Yokneam.

About five engineering tools were seen working in the field on a lazily project.

It is true that throughout the construction period the road remains active - a logistical challenge for the "Trans-Israel" company that is carrying out the project.

But "active" is a relative matter.

In practice, most of the time, the section in question is very busy or congested.

Drivers are frustrated by the delays and accidents, probably the insurance companies are also bothered by the tens of millions of shekels they are required to compensate for, air pollution is caused, waste of work hours and damage to productivity and local leaders say the ongoing delay is blocked in northern development.

"This is not a one-off matter," emphasizes Moshe Davidovich, head of the Mate Asher council and a member of the Western Galilee cluster board and former director general of the Galilee Development Authority and director general of the Acre Municipality.

"This traffic jam in the Yokneam area has effects on everyone who lives in the north, including residents of our communities up to Rosh Hanikra who are required to reach the center of the country, or those who visit us from the central area. It has been a traffic jam for years. "I want to provide a solution for citizens living in the north and allow citizens to live in the north and reach quickly and efficiently all over the country. It is a must to complete this project together with other projects such as Road 6 to the north soon, it is in the national interest."

"There was gossip" (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)

Dikla Raflovich, a resident of Zichron Yaacov, told Walla!

"The permanent traffic jam in the Yokneam area is bothering us badly. We returned to Israel six months ago following our 16-year-old son, who immigrated a year before us through the Na'ala program, and is in a boarding school in Nahalal.

We defined the choice of our place of residence in the country according to the location of the boarding school - a distance that does not exceed half an hour's drive from the child.

Zichron Yaacov was found suitable.

To our disappointment every Saturday night when we return him to the boarding school the trip is supposed to take us an hour - round trip, lengthens to an hour and a half-two hours sometimes and there are no alternatives.

The frustration is very great. "

The company claims that the project is complex because it is carried out in a main transportation artery that connects the north and center of the country, which in this section is the main infrastructure corridor of the State of Israel and includes water, electricity, fuel and gas infrastructure, which required copying before work began.

Due to the importance of this artery throughout the construction period the road remains active.

Working on an active road is more complex and complicated compared to working on a sterile construction site.

From the first day of work, the company opened another travel route, a kind of strawberry for Elyakim and Yokneam for Elyakim, in order to improve the flow of existing traffic throughout the construction period.

"This is a unique move that challenges the execution stages," they said.

In practice, it is difficult to cross this section without lingering in a traffic jam.

Most traffic jams occur in the morning, especially in the north when people are rushing to work in the high-tech park of Yokneam and in the evening, heading south, when they return.

But heavy traffic jams are also recorded on Fridays, when hikers move north and every Saturday night when hikers return from the north to the center of the country.

In fact it is not possible to predict when a huge traffic jam will occur there, partly due to the reason that due to the works, and the temporary and unclear markings on the road and the driving course with frequent stops, there are collisions between vehicles regularly.

These add more density to the huge traffic jams that later drag behind them, until police and tow trucks arrive to evacuate them.

Another challenge that was emphasized outside of Israel is the preservation of the landscape and environment configuration in accordance with the high standards of Highway 6 and thus posed great challenges from an engineering point of view.

For example, retaining walls tens of meters high that are built from top to bottom, are supported by rock screws up to 25 meters long and constitute "unique and complex engineering elements for performing whatever else they are covered with stone."

In addition, the project also includes the construction of a rest parking lot for heavy vehicles, the first of its kind in the country with a direct descent from a highway.

Michaeli (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)

"This is a terrible traffic jam, which has been bothering us for years," says Simon Alfasi, the mayor of Yokneam Illit.

"We suffer twice: both on the road and from all those who are clever and try to get around it through the city streets and at the same time create an internal traffic jam for us. It is an important road that connects the center to the north and serves those who come from here and there From home, but even so it's very difficult for companies, suppliers and customers. Treat those involved too gently so as not to 'break the tools', it's an interurban project and I do not have too much to do, but I follow personally, in continuous contact with all The echelons, both in the field and in the Knesset and the government, and I try to expedite as much as I can. "

Last week, the ongoing nightmare for the Knesset arose, as part of a query to the Minister of Transportation, Merav Michaeli, submitted by MK Yael Ron Ben Moshe, blue-and-white secretary general and member of Kibbutz Ga'aton in the Western Galilee, who regularly uses this section of road.

Michaeli replied to her: "I totally agree with you. I was amazed, and outraged at the fact that the work there has been going on for so many years, and is really causing a very, very big mishap in the area - all over the area, by the way - it really bothers the whole area, not just the road "I got into the matter, and I realized there were planning and execution gaps. I mean, the walls that need to be built there are more engineering and operationally complex than they thought and planned in the first place. Somehow there was some gossip. It was not handled properly, unfortunately, before we came in." .

Michaeli promised to handle the matter personally, and stated that in the agreement between the director of her office and the professional bodies, the contractor is obliged to complete the work by September 2022. According to her, "

"I understand from the Minister's answer, within seven months there will be an end to the ongoing nightmare in this section. The Ministry of Transport chooses not to be dragged into a lengthy legal process with the operating contractor and delay the project further, which is welcome. The unimaginable delays in completing this project and the suffering caused to drivers, passengers and residents, "says MK Yael Ron Ben Moshe.

I understand there are stages in an engineering project, but with hundreds of thousands of citizens hanging out on this stretch of road it was right to find more creative ways.

I travel there during hours when there are no jobs at all and not necessarily on Saturdays.

If they had to bring in another hundred workers then they had to bring.

Work time should be shortened and distress resolved.

In the meantime, this project is a bottleneck for anyone coming from Kiryat Shmona and the Upper Galilee or from the Nahariya area and the Western Galilee.

You lose all the time you earn on Road 6 in this section near Yokneam. "Ben Moshe wanted to emphasize:" In general, I am not satisfied with the transportation in the north and the priorities of the Ministry of Transportation in the north, neither in infrastructure nor in public transportation. "

Outside Israel, Walla !: "We apologize for the inconvenience and make every effort to inspect the work as soon as possible.

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• Yokneam

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