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74
The Metropolitan Jerusalem Master Plan
The Metropolitan Jerusalem Master Plan
75
Circumferential roads have served for
several decades as the most important
transportation tool for channeling
vehicles in large metropoles around the
world. The purpose of the existence of
such roads is to prevent vehicles that
need to get from one side of a city to
the other from having to go through
the city. The circumferential roads
connect all of the roads leading to the
metropolis with each other and with
the roads leading from it to the center
of the city. In this way, circumferential
roads make it possible to reach defined
areas of the city with much greater ease.
Circumferential roads contribute to the
reduction of traffic congestion, and as
a direct result of this, to a reduction in
air and noise pollution and an increased
quality of life.
The vision of a circumferential road
for Jerusalem existed already 1975,
and a general plan for the Jerusalem
circumferential road is in initial
planning stages under the title “The
City Gates Project.” According to this
plan, the circumferential road will be
comprised of two half-rings – the
east and west circumferential roads.
A comprehensive examination of the
current status of the highways around
the expected metropolitan region
shows that in actuality, many of the
roads which already exist could serve
– with minor changes – as sections of
the circumferential road. Thus, building
the circumferential road will require
completing relatively few sections, at a
reasonable expense, and in a relatively
short period of time. Together with
this, establishing the circumferential
road will require building road sections
connecting it with the primary and
secondary traffic arteries of Jerusalem,
the primary arteries to the city’s
neighborhoods, and to the city center
from all parts of the city.
It should be emphasized that this
circumferential road will be able to use
existing routes only if the borders of
metropolitan Jerusalem, as determined
in this plan, are to be accepted.
Further, the circumferential road will
be planned and built in a manner that
will allow reference to the demographic
changes in the city and to the changing
transportation needs thereof. In
some big cities – such as Madrid
and Paris – there is more than one
circumferential road, as the expansion
of the metropolis has required the
establishment of more circumferential
roads.
Building the
circumferential
road will require
completing relatively
few sections, at a
reasonable expense,
and in a relatively
short period of time
illustrations:
Mike Demidov, Shutterstock
Establishment of a system of mass transportation, for travel to and
from, and within, metropolitan Jerusalem.
A new airport, to be built in the Horkania-Jericho region, will serve
for people to arrive in Jerusalem from outside the country in addition to
flights coming into Israel’s main airport – Ben Gurion.
The main transportation system (roads and public transportation)
will be radial, meaning, based on circumferential roads.
The urban public transportation system will include light rails and
advanced buses which will provide services for short rides. As needed,
at a later stage, a subway system will be built as well.
Jerusalem’s intercity train system will be significantly upgraded to
include three lines to the Jerusalem region, one of which will go to the
Atarot employment area, a train line to the planned Horkania-Jericho
airport in the east, and a north-south route on the Nablus-Ramallah-
Jerusalem-Hebron Beer Sheva axis.
Transportation principles for metropolitan Jerusalem
Transportation
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The Circumferential Road
Circumferential roads are to be found in any large metropolis
in the world today, and they are the most efficient tool for
managing and directing urban and intercity traffic.
Transportation