The residents are convinced that from the outset there was no intention to really check into the matter of rerouting the next leg of the Jeruslaem Light Rail.
By PEGGY CIDOROn Emek Refaim Street, the German Colony’s main drag.(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
It is difficult to say what hurt more – the decision of Mayor Nir Barkat to reject all three alternatives to the planned path of the light rail’s Blue Line presented by the residents, or the feeling that it was all a masquerade and Barkat had never intended to seriously consider these proposals.One reason for the residents’ anger is that when Barkat received the alternative report from a delegation of residents on November 30, he promised an answer within a week after reading it carefully. Yet it took him a mere 36 hours to publish an official announcement and press release declaring that he had decided to reject all three proposals and to stick to the original plan, along the German Colony’s Emek Refaim Street.The residents are convinced that from the outset there was no intention to really check into the matter.“So now, it’s war,” one resident said. After a few days to recover from their shock, representatives of the German Colony residents opposed to running the line along the neighborhood’s main artery began to regroup.“War, of course, it will not be,” a member of the group clarified, “but it certainly will not be nice.”One of the first steps has already been taken: the group hired Eliad Shraga, a lawyer who specializes in public struggles, to represent them.He will help to guide them through the district planning and construction committee route, to gather objections from the public, submit them to the committee and eventually apply to the national appeal committee council, which is the last resort.Meanwhile, if there is a “war,” it will be launched on two fronts.The first front involves members of the group of residents who worked on the three alternatives in the report. Some of them, with Hava Tepperberg at their head, feel that the planned path though Emek Refaim is not entirely bad. Modifications can made and caution can be taken in the execution of the plan in regard to when and how long the heavy roadwork will take place, how residents and business owners will be compensated, etc.The second front will be driven by those of the group who from the beginning were totally opposed to the Emek Refaim segment of the Blue Line. This includes architect and urbanist Moshe Margalit, Avraham Mordechai and others who constitute the stronghold of opposition to the planned route.
In the background are residents of the Katamonim who would prefer the Blue Line to run close to their neighborhood and feel that their quality of life and urban needs are considered less important in the eyes of the opponents of the Emek Refaim route. They are already on the barricades, ready for a fight.Above all this are the Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan professional staff. Despite their efforts to present the best solution for the needs of all residents – at least in their eyes – they feel almost betrayed by the locals, some of whom accuse them of promoting economic interests above their quality of life as veteran residents of this very special neighborhood.For the moment, involved parties are preparing their arsenals and calling for urgent meetings to consider next steps.