Rendering of the proposal
The Regional Committee for Jerusalem Planning and Construction headed by Shira Talmibabai has decided to approve plans to build a very large development in the air rights of the Begin expressway.
The area involved consists of 213 dunam (about 53 acres) over the Menachem Begin expressway. The project includes an new construction of 1,600 meters, between the Byte intersection and the Wolfson Bridge, creating a new municipal area. It will create a connection between two Jerusalem neighborhoods which are separated today by the Begin Expressway.
The new area located on top of the covering and will include 2,300 housing units, 250 units of protected living quarters, 380 hotel rooms, 36,000 meters for businesses, 13,000 meters for commercial centers, 67,000 for public facilities and 60 dunam of open areas. In addition, the plan offers an upper roadway system which will serve the new areas and will connect to the municipal transportation system.
Director of the Planning Authority, Rafi Almaliach, says, "The program for covering over the Begin Expressway is an example of the Authority's effort to create a city renewal project which has no precedent in Israel as of yet. On the one hand, it creates new enterprise within the city interior so as to avoid expanding the boundaries of city construction and also maintaining open areas. It is innovative, offering a most efficient use of ground area through creation of housing and expansion of existing infrastructure."
The Jerusalem architect of the Planning Authority, architect Dan Keinan, says, ""The plan is strategic for the city of Jerusalem, offering the creation of a new municipal quarter ex nihilo in the very center of the city, located on an important intersection. It hopes to combine an upsurge of development to the area of the entrance to the city, serving as a bridge between parts of the city detached today one from the other."
The program is being initiated by the Authority of Jerusalem Development and is being implemented by the Kolkar Kolkar Epstein Engineers.
