Students despair at safety risk in crossing highway

The University fo Haifa student union itself built a crossing over the highway, but the university pulled it down.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
University of Haifa students are in despair over a lack of official action to ensure their safety when crossing over the busy highway from a parking lot to the university, reports Yediot Haifa. Ever since a student was hit by a car and killed while crossing the road last year, and following a number of near-misses, students have fought for a pedestrian bridge over the highway, but say no authority is willing to take responsibility. According to the report, the student union itself built a crossing over the highway, but the university pulled it down, saying it had been built without a permit and was dangerous. A student representative said plans to build pedestrian bridges had already existed for five years, and yet neither the city nor the university was acting to implement them. "No authority is willing to take responsibility," the student representative said. "We have asked the university and the cities of Haifa and Nesher to take responsibility for the safety of those students who must run across a major highway with a limited field of vision, but to our regret we have not won any response." A university spokesman said the students' solution had been dangerous and had therefore been removed, and the university was working with the city to find "an appropriate and safe solution."