The flood damage on Route 90 (photo: official website, Shay Yadal El Porat)
The new government made many promises to take care of the periphery, with an emphasis on improving its connection to the tender.
Minister of Transportation Miri Regev even continues to threaten to stop the vital metro project in the center until the railway to Kiryat Shmona and Eilat is promoted, projects with a total cost of more than NIS 40 billion.
But nobody cares about the Arava road, road 90.
Much has been said about the road in the context of the problem of road accidents along it, the fact that most of the section between the Arava junction and Eilat still has one lane in each direction and no separation fence.
So far, only 52 km have been extended to Ketura, and just last year 300 million shekels were approved for the extension of another 20 km to Nahal Shekata.
Last year, the Israel Defense Forces and Natibi Israel began an emergency program costing NIS 120 million to treat risk centers and create detour routes, an amount that NATI was able to locate from its road maintenance budget.
But the handling of the road expansion has not yet been budgeted, and requires government allocation of resources.
The search efforts for the missing (Photo: Avi Rokah)
The last wave of rains showed once again how bad the condition of the road is also in terms of draining the floods that drain into it from the southern streams.
Thousands of Israelis were stuck yesterday and the day before on the Arava road, in Eilat, or on a road from there due to the floods.
The brothers Maayan and Sahar Asor paid with their lives for the neglect, when their car was swept away in the flood.
A third passenger in the car, Sahar's partner Shai Dahan, was saved after being swept for miles by the strong current.
A report prepared for the Dead Sea Drainage Authority and the Ministry of Environmental Protection states that so far only NIS 155 million has been budgeted for the treatment of flood hotspots, and that by 2020 another NIS 680 million is needed.
This is less than NIS 40 million per year, a meager amount compared to the generous allowances approved by the government in accordance with the coalition agreements, but the treatment of the southern periphery remained at the level of slogans when the state budget was approved by the government.
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The lack of familiarity with the danger of floods is misleading, but where is the state's responsibility to prevent the dangerous encounters? (Photo: official website, Shay Yadal El Porat)
The report examined the crossing points of the 13 main streams, the road, the streams Og, Qumran, Kidron, Tamar, Darga, Hatzun, Kedem, David, Arugot, Hever, Mishmar, Tzalim and Rahaf.
According to the experts of the Ecolog Engineering company that prepared it, only the drainage of the floods from the Qumran, Kidron, Darga and Hattzon streams were treated so that they would not flood the road, stop the traffic and endanger the lives of the passengers on the road.
At six of the points, the document even states that there is a need to build a bridge and restore the section of road because of the problem: the streams David, Arugot, Hever, Mishmar, Tzalim and Rahaf.
In some sections, mainly the streams David and Ergot, treatment is also required due to the problem of sinkholes, the pits that open up around the road due to the drop in the level of the Dead Sea, which also causes a change in the angle of the streams and the acceleration of the flow along them, which increases the danger and damages in the event of flooding.
According to data from the Israel Routes Company, in 2019-2020, sections of the Arava road were closed for a total of 35 days due to flooding.
The peaks were the section into which Nahal Tzalim drains, 9 times, and the section into which Nahal Hever drains, 6 times.
Any such closure may cut off Eilat and other settlements along its length, stopping the movement of residents to work and school, the transportation of food and goods to the Arava settlements, and the travel of tourists and travelers.
Sahar and Mayan Asor who were killed when their car was swept away in the flood (photo: official website, Tiberias Municipality)
Where's the money?
According to the report, in Resolution 3742 of April 15, 2018, the government budgeted an amount of NIS 155 million for the treatment of the Ein Gedi area, Ein Tzukim and the construction of a water transfer and a bridge in Nahal Hever.
But this is less than a quarter of the amount needed to treat the problem.
An amount of NIS 204 million is required for the treatment of 27 additional stream channels that cross the road, one of which is Nahal Tsihor, which caused the great flood during the holiday, and NIS 213 million to complete the treatment of Einat Tsukim and km 246 of the road. In addition, another 260 are
required million shekels in order to ensure the functional continuity of the road through the construction of defenses on the road and the upgrading of water diverters in the major channels. An investment of 52 million shekels is required until 2025, between 2026 and 2030 another 118 million shekels and between 2031 and 2040 an amount of approximately 90 million shekels.
Road closures of 35 days in total (photo: official website, Shay Yadal El Porat)
The Ministry of Environmental Protection stated:
The Ministry led an inter-ministerial team to formulate a long-term policy for the Dead Sea area, in order to promote intelligent and environmentally sound maintenance of Highway 90. The annex
was formulated in cooperation with the Geological Survey, the Dead Sea Drainage Authority and the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Studies and was accompanied by a steering team between - Wide offices that included representatives from all the relevant government ministries, with the participation of the regional councils.
The conclusions of the work were presented to the Prime Minister's Office, which is the office that includes all government work on the Dead Sea, including budgetary aspects.
The appendix was also drawn up in collaboration with Natibi Israel, the government agency responsible for road maintenance in accordance with the development and budgeting policy of the Ministry of Transportation.
To the best of our knowledge, the Ministry of Transportation through Netibi Israel is working together with the Dead Sea Drainage Authority to implement the recommendations.
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