Former Shinui MK Meli Polishook-Bloch and her husband, Dr. Tsali Polishook, are against the planned Road 531, which would link their community, Ra'anana, to Herzliya. They have a better suggestion: Put the road, and the railroad track planned to run parallel to it, inside tunnels.

The embattled stretch, planned to link southern Ra'anana to Kfar Shmaryahu (from Route 4, the Geha Road, to the Ayalon highway and the coastal road), would be 4.7 kilometers long. Polishook, a geologist who has been involved in planning other tunnels in Israel, including the Mount Scopus tunnel in Jerusalem, has already prepared a preliminary plan. He and his wife have presented their plan to the mayors of Herzliya and Ra'anana, and intend to enlist local residents for their cause.

Toxic to inhabitants

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In recent years, several major plans for traffic tunnels have been approved here, including the Carmel tunnel and those along the new Jerusalem-Tel Aviv train line, from the Ayalon Valley to Jerusalem's entrance (for a total length of nearly 10 kilometers). Polishook-Bloch has tried - unsuccessfully - to put part of the northern Trans-Israel Highway inside a tunnel.

Road 531 has been recognized as a national project, and was sent for to the national infrastructure community for approval. Two months ago the committee approved the plan for the road and the railroad track, and forwarded it to a ministerial committee for approval. Residents' concerns, which include potential air and noise pollution, could be gleaned from the dozens of objections submitted to a special investigator, architect Ari Cohen, appointed by the national infrastructure committee. He rejected the overwhelming majority of the reservations, and in certain cases approved increased acoustic protection. As for the complaints about air pollution, Cohen noted that the plan calls for setting up stations to measure it. The data will be used to determine whether means should be taken to decrease pollution, such as restricting traffic and speed.

The Polishooks believe the promised solutions are not enough, and call Road 531 "toxic to inhabitants." Their argument is partially based on an environmental survey commissioned by the National Roads Company that shows that at some points along the road, nitric oxide may be three times the permitted level. Polishook-Bloch contacted Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra and asked him to take action against the road. "It is untenable for your ministry to fight air pollution while another government agency is enabling pollution three times past the Israeli standard, which does not even conform to European standards."

The Ra'anana municipality is also worried by potential air pollution. City engineer Arie Gat has sent the national infrastructures committee a document listing his reservations with the plan. He noted that the survey found some residential areas would suffer from 449 20-percent deviations from the air quality standard. He also addressed the proposed means for handling pollution, including speed limits and reducing vehicle traffic when high air pollution is expected. He argues it is impossible to implement a control system based on measurement stations that inform drivers not to use the road. It is also unreasonable to set rush-hour speed limits on a fast road.

The National Roads Company says air quality deviations will occur only under extreme and uncommon weather (like an especially weak wind that does not disperse the pollution). According to the measurements, this will affect undeveloped areas, and pollution exposure can be decreased there through proper planning.

Like the survey, the National Roads Company says the best way to address air quality is through the source of pollution, such as transitioning to green fuels and strict vehicle licensing tests.

Less pollution, less area

Polishook believes the issue should be handled in a way that addresses not only air pollution but also other environmental issues. He proposes building a tunnel for the train and two for motor vehicles. The tunnels would cover most of the road's span. "Tunnels would decrease noise and the air pollution, and would prevent the creation of a large barrier between the cities that causes great damage to the landscape," he says. "This would also save in compensation payments for decreased property values. Tunnels will save extensive amounts of land, which totals 4,500 dunams under the current plan. With the tunnels, only about 900 dunams would be used."

"Tunnels were considered during the planning of the road, but were rejected outright," says National Roads Company spokesman Avi Shmoul. "The strip planned for development includes intersections and train tracks, and such a combination of infrastructures does not enable the use of a tunnel."

The National Roads Company says a tunnel could decrease air pollution only if it is long enough and if its openings are far from residential areas. The road's route is lined with private homes with gardens, and therefore short tunnels would expose them to pollution. A long tunnel, like the one Polishook is proposing, would not pass the economic cost-benefit test, it says.

Air pollution cannot be trapped within the tunnel, says the company, as it is impossible to install sufficient filtering mechanisms. "In any case, there is no effective way of dealing with nitric oxide, which is the critical pollutant," notes the company. "To the best of our knowledge, there is no project anywhere in the world that handles pollutants emitted from a tunnel."

Polishook says he is familiar with the opponents' arguments, and presents examples of tunnels built in developed countries that have addressed the issues raised by the National Roads Company. Switzerland has a tunnel with access to many roads along its length, and other tunnels have advanced air filtering mechanisms, he says. "There are hundreds of traffic tunnels around the world with entrances and exits along their length," says Polishook. "There are also systems for absorbing airborne pollution particles and nitric oxide inside the tunnel, so that it emits relatively clean air."

Polishook addresses other reservations raised in Israel, among them the fear of fires, which have claimed many victims in Europe. He notes that lessons have been learned in the wake of several disasters, and today tunnels are built with fire control systems, escapes and emergency openings.

As for the economic cost, perhaps the greatest obstacle to projects of this sort, Polishook estimates the tunnels would cost NIS 2.7 billion, about what the current plan would need. That sum does not include further benefits - including the lesser compensation sums for neighboring landowners, and the use of the land under which the tunnel runs. We should add to this, of course, the decreased medical expenditures of people who will not become ill from air pollution exposure. Polishook is convinced all this makes the tunnel worthwhile.