Lawsuit Demands Gov’t Finish Paving Road – Ten Years After It Was Started

YERUSHALAYIM
A Shomron highway. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

A lawsuit demanding the completion of a road connecting the western Shomron town of Beit Aryeh and other towns in the area to avoid driving thorough several Arab villages was filed by Beit Aryeh Mayor Avi Naim and Shomron Council head Yossi Dagan. The lawsuit, filed at the High Court, names the IDF Central Command, the Transport Ministry, and the Israel Highways Corporation as responsible for completion of the two kilometers (3.2 miles) that will allow tens of thousands of drivers to use the road.

The Western Binyamin Bypass Road was nearly completed over a decade ago, and has been languishing since then. The road, which cost NIS 250 million ($71,578,010) to build, was begun in 2006, but halted several years later when Ehud Barak became Defense Minister, with just two kilometers left unpaved. Since then, the other 10 kilometers of the road have gone unused. The work was halted to divert resources to the construction of the security fence in the area, but local officials said that it was high time that it be completed.

Beit Aryeh Mayor Avi Naim said in remarks attached to the lawsuit that “it is not logical that Israel would not complete the road that would have strategic importance for thousands of drivers daily. Most of it is completed, but a small part remains unfinished. There is no legal reason for the holdup, as the entire road passes through areas that have been approved for construction and development. Despite our many requests to those responsible, and the promises that the work would be completed, nothing has happened.”

According to Dagan, the failure to complete the road “is another example of how the government ignores the needs of residents of Yehudah and Shomron. The government expends millions on these projects and then stops in the middle, and this harms both the state budget, and residents. Proper roads in Yehudah and Shomron are a requirement for security and safety. This lawsuit is a part of our struggle for bypass roads for residents of Israeli towns in Yehudah and Shomron. We will not stop until we see tractors at work,” he added.

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