Haifa officials to plead for easing of traffic restrictions

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Haifa city officials will meet with Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz this month to ask him to allow taxis and private cars carrying more than four passengers to use lanes reserved for the new Metronit light rail line, reports www.mynet.co.il. Even though the light rail is not scheduled to begin operating until 2009, the lanes it will use have been restricted to Egged buses only for the past few months, resulting in heavy traffic congestion by other vehicles in surrounding streets in central Haifa. According to the report, Deputy Mayor Rami Levi and the manager of the Yafeh-Nof municipal building company, Doron Magid, asked for a meeting with Mofaz in order to urge him to open the lanes up to other public vehicles as well as to private vehicles carrying more than four passengers. Levi said the traffic congestion had become chronic in the lower city, an "absurd" situation when the lanes designated for the Metronit were all but empty. "Millions of shekels have been invested by the Transportation Ministry and by the city of Haifa in the construction of these lanes, the aim of which is to ease the lives of residents. But the results in reality have been that traffic jams have grown," Levi said. He added that he was pleased that the ministry had responded positively to his request for a meeting with the minister, and he hoped to be able to persuade Mofaz to allow other traffic to use the lanes. The report pointed out that the measure would be an interim one only, as once the light rail becomes operational, all vehicles, including buses, will be prohibited from using its lanes.