Allenby Street in Tel Aviv was closed to traffic last night in favor of work on the light rail's Purple Line. At this stage, the street will be blocked in the section between King George and Montefiore Streets, from Carmel Market to the Great Synagogue, and is expected to be closed for the next 4.5 years, at the end of which it will become a pedestrian street.
A train station will be built on this section of the street, and the excavations along it will also be utilized to carry out infrastructure work of the sewage and water systems, and to lower the power lines underground.
Work begins at Magen David Square (Carmel Market), photo: Gideon Markowitz
Allenby Street is one of the busiest in Tel Aviv by public transport, vehicles and pedestrians. The Tel Aviv municipality delayed its closure for a long time due to concerns about heavy traffic congestion in the area, especially public transportation. After staff work to find alternative solutions so as not to harm the traveling public, the public transportation lines whose route passes through Allenby were diverted to nearby streets.
The progress of the Purple Line project on Allenby Street was agreed upon in view of the opening of the Light Rail's Red Line next Friday, which is likely to gradually reduce traffic congestion in some areas of central Tel Aviv.
Tel Avivians preparing for chaos. Photo: Gideon Markowitz
Red Line: 34 stations
The Red Line route, with a total length of 24 kilometers, will connect five cities – from Petach Tikva at its northern end to Bat Yam at its southern end, via Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv-Yafo – and will include 34 stations, some underground and some above ground.
In preparation for the operation of the line, a ceremony is expected to be held with the participation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Miri Regev. It is believed that the ceremony will take place in Tel Aviv, and the headquarters of the struggle against the legal reform plan to demonstrate during it. The police are preparing to secure the ceremony and prevent the demonstrators from disrupting its proper existence.
A statement issued by the Struggle Headquarters said: "The red line is being marked. When Netanyahu and Regev come to inaugurate the light rail, we will remind them that the red line of Israeli citizens is the destruction of democracy."
Allenby will become a pedestrian zone. Until then - the replacement of the Blaumilch Canal, photo: Gideon Markowitz
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