Last update - 00:00 26/08/2007
Herzliya, Ra'anana say new road would harm real estate values
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
Environmental groups, municipality officials and residents demand that a tunnel be built instead of a new road near neighborhoods in Herzliya and Ra'anana to prevent air and noise pollution and damage to real estate values.
The mayors of these cities plan to send a letter to the ministers of transportation and the interior threatening to petition the High Court of Justice unless the tunnel option is thoroughly considered.
Route 531 will be an east-west road connecting the coastal road with Highway 6. The plan includes laying railway tracks along this route. The controversial segment will pass through Ra'anana, Herzliya, Kfar Malal, Ramot Hashavim and Givat Chen.
Local residents and officials base their objections on an environmental impact survey commissioned by the National Roads Company, and other opinions they obtained. The survey concluded that 20 percent of the time, air pollution will reach triple the Israeli standard, and 10 times the global standard.
Among those spearheading the campaign against the road are Ra'anana residents Meli Polishuk, a former Knesset member from Shinui, and her husband, Dr. Tsali Polishuk, a tunnel expert. "We're talking about population poisoning," says Meli Polishuk.
"There are nine schools close to the route, some literally on it. There are several dozen kindergartens and several nursing homes. These are the populations most vulnerable to air pollution."
Solutions proposed as part of the road plan include setting up monitoring stations and restricting truck traffic and speed limits if excessive pollution is found. Polishuk considers these measures "ridiculous."
The Ra'anana and Herzliya municipalities are interested in the plan's potential for resolving the traffic problems within their jurisdictions. But they want a serious examination of the tunnel alternative, and its implementation if proved worthwhile.