(haipo) - Many intersections in Haifa suffer from traffic congestion, or merging into them endangers drivers and pedestrians. It often seems that only minor changes to the traffic lights are needed to improve the situation considerably, and sometimes a more significant intervention is required to reduce the danger to road users.
three junctions
We examined three intersections throughout Haifa, in an attempt to find out the root of the problems in them and also to check what are the possibilities for improving their condition.
"Afraid of what will happen if we have to evacuate quickly"
David Lavane, a resident of Harofeh Street in the Ahozeh neighborhood, describes the problem with the traffic light at the Horev intersection, which is reached from Gat Street: "The traffic light on Horev Street is very problematic. Harofeh, Lincoln, Shechter and Smolenskin streets lead to the same single traffic light on Horev Street. Beyond these streets, even those who travel "The same traffic light is not coming from Gat Street. This situation has not changed for 20 years," says Levana.
On Gat Street there is a shawarma stand and next to it are 3-4 blue-and-white parking lots and the cars parked there, which are not breaking the law in any way, completely block the lane turning left. During rush hours, the traffic coming from the center of Carmel to the university drains to an unoccupied intersection and prevents travel from Gat Street at a traffic light, even when the traffic light is already green. There are cameras there, but I don't know if there's anyone enforcing it at all.
At around 15:00, when shifts change at the Carmel Medical Center, it is impossible to leave Smolenskin Street. There is a short traffic light there, and between 14:30 PM and 15:30 PM it is very difficult to leave the street."
Lots of construction, lots of cars
"Even in the evening, the situation is very problematic. On Sunday evening, for example, I drove from Harofeh Street and couldn't get to Horev. We have more and more construction on Harofeh Street all the time, and on Shechter Street there are more and more cars... I don't know what will happen if a situation arises where we have to evacuate the The neighborhood quickly. There is also new construction on Smolenskin Street. A building with 6 apartments becomes a building with many more apartments and many, many vehicles. We are suffering a lot, I don't know how to solve this, maybe we should start with a longer phase of the traffic lights."
Does not match the vehicle quantities
Eran Shulman, a member of the Carmelia neighborhood committee, is very disturbed by the heavy traffic at the entrance to the neighborhood: "The design of the intersection at the entrance to Carmelia does not match the amount of vehicles in the neighborhood. The neighborhood has two exits, one from Heinrich Heina Street, and the other from Yarakon Street. The problem is at the exit from Yarakon Street. We asked To make a dramatic change in the entire area, we asked that Rachel Street also exit to Moriah Street and not just to Yarakon Street, as it is currently. There was a plan that the committee submitted to the municipality, but nothing was done.
Constant traffic at the entrance to the neighborhood
We met several times with all the professionals in the municipality and several possible solutions were proposed - for example, canceling the traffic light at the exit from Carmelia (Yarkon Street) and widening the road to two lanes, one going to Moriah Street and the other to Shimshon Street, but this was not done either. There are always traffic jams at the entrance to Carmelia. Of course, there are more and less crowded hours, but the rush is constant. We also asked to turn Zafaririm Street up to the traffic light into Du Citri Street, and this was also not carried out. The entire intersection needs to be reorganized. The committee has a lot of suggestions for improvement, but unfortunately none of it is progressing."
"It's only a matter of time before disaster strikes"
The chairman of the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood, Amit Gonen, describes the situation at the lower intersection in Ramat Eshkol: "Ramat Eshkol has two entrances, the dangerous intersection is the lower (southern) intersection. At the top intersection we suffer from traffic congestion. On the other hand, the lower intersection has a number of problems: when you go up Freud Road and turn left going uphill to the neighborhood, the visibility is not good. Another problem is that on the left turn there is a bus stop opposite without a bay. Sometimes a bus stops on the way down from Freud and blocks the lane for those who want to turn left. Sometimes there is traffic on the way up in Freud, and then for vehicles that want to turn left into the neighborhood, it is difficult to fit into the turning lane. The merging lane to the left is short and can accommodate only 3 cars. If 5 cars arrive, two cars stand in the middle of the lane and block it. They stand in the middle of the lane immediately after a turn, therefore vehicles, which arrive quickly on Freud Road, may not see them and hit them.
The late Noa Hayit
This appeal has already caused death. The late Noa Hait was killed there because of a similar story of partial visibility. A vehicle merging to the left did not see her, and the late Hait, who was riding a bicycle, was hit by the side of the vehicle and was unable to stop.
additional dangers
But the problems at the intersection do not end here. "Drivers commit traffic offenses at the intersection. The common offense is an illegal U-turn, with the aim of returning to the coastal road. This happens a lot when there are football games in the stadium," he says.
Gonen also refers to the dangerous situation at the exit from Ramat Eshkol: "When you want to leave the neighborhood for Freud, the vehicle faces downwards without a merging lane, so you merge directly into Freud Road. The driver has to turn onto Freud Road when to his right there is a bus stop with people standing on the road. The driver looks back to see Vehicles that get off at Freud and prevent him from fitting in. There is a danger that the people at the bus stop will be hit by the vehicle.
Another danger is the bus stop and buses that stop there, because they don't have visibility of more than 20 m, so they can't see the stop and stop. When you see the station and the people, it's already too late to stop. As a result, those who are waiting for the bus stand on the road and signal the bus driver to stop."
"The next accident will happen if they don't take care of this intersection. The solution is to create an orderly integration lane to integrate with Freud Road. There is an area adjacent to the road that needs to be shaved off 2-3 m and an integration lane. In the past, there were all kinds of requests in order to solve the problem to make a traffic light or Square and all were rejected for security reasons.
We are not city planners. We ask that those who trust these issues find the solution. The elected mayor, Yona Yahav, met with the residents of the neighborhood, studied the problem of the intersection and promised to take care of it."
Ways of dealing with traffic congestion
The road and traffic planner Moshe Leibovitch refers to the problem at intersections: "At busy intersections, the way to deal with traffic congestion is to do traffic counts. There are intersections that are busy all day and there are some that are busy for part of the day. In Horev and Carmelia there is congestion during most of the day, because these are central intersections. The solution is to do Review and check what happens during rush hours. After that, you can analyze and determine how to improve the activity of the traffic lights. When a car goes down in Freud, there is a danger of injury to those leaving the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood (at the lower intersection). Visibility distance is necessary, there is a reasonable distance that allows you to decide whether to drive or not In Ramat Eshkol, the lower intersection can be traffic lighted, but you need to check the number of road accidents and their severity and understand if this is indeed required or not. You also need to do traffic counts to understand what needs to be done."
"Continuously monitor and make changes and improvements as needed"
Haifa Municipality It was stated in response that the traffic lights at the Horev and Carmelia intersections are calibrated according to demand and according to the time of day: "There is no traffic light at the lower exit from Ramat Eshkol. We do not know of any traffic at the entrance, but nevertheless, the municipality continuously monitors the issue of traffic in the city and continuously makes changes and improvements, as that the need arises".
There are constructions around. The number of families increased, the population increased, and what they didn't think about was increasing - expanding the infrastructure streets. Change traffic lights that were once designed for a long time and replace them according to the load. check the source of the pressure and thus plan the traffic lights to find additional ways to enjoy the roads to release the pressure on the roads
In Carmelia and Horev, the planning and execution correspond to the mid-1980s. In Horuv, the biggest problem is actually the double traffic light in Safar square. The solution is to change the direction of travel on Disraeli Street. And of course the traffic lights must be directed, they lost touch with reality
The solution to the heavy traffic loads lies at the root of the problem that produces vehicle congestion due to the addition of the destructive multi-tenant TMA 38 monsters, which causes an unplanned addition of cars in many areas where the width of the roads was not originally designed for these loads.
The Traffic Licensing Department, overloaded with "engineers", releases permits for additional construction based on an imaginary plan for the Horev Junction Tunnel and the improvement of public transportation in the Carmel Ridge in the future if ever.
This is an urban planning failure when most of the energy is channeled into unrestrained construction on the basis of issuing construction permits contrary to the law, supposedly by virtue of TMA 38, based on false statements by the municipal engineers.
The implementation of the TMA cartel in the Carmel Ridge must be stopped immediately.
What to do the population is growing. Carmel is planned for a much smaller population. It is very good that the population is growing. You are as if ha in the claims that there is a load. because of constructions. . Why not the buildings of the past are not planned to live densely in a rattan house. And the girls in TMA only solve problems for many families. The tent of the moment that allows construction without planning side changes according to the number of changes of the building. Such as roads, streets and the gardens and schools just to reduce the load. It is good that there is an increase in the population of the tent, the municipalities must change the seating and enlarge the head as soon as they change The width of streets and even our heart. More streets. Traffic lights. Think about how to release congestion. But we learned that patience is needed along the way.
What to do the population is growing. Carmel is planned for a much smaller population. It is very good that the population is growing. You're like ha in the claims that there is a load. because of constructions. . Why not the buildings of the past are not planned to live densely in a rattan house. And the girls in TMA only solve problems for many families. The tent of the moment that allows construction without planning lateral changes according to the number of changes of the building. Such as roads, streets and the gardens and schools just to reduce the load. It is good that there is population growth, but the municipalities must change their thinking and increase their heads as soon as they change the width of streets and even build more streets. and traffic lights. think about how to release congestion. but we learned that patience and long-suffering are needed.
What to do the population is growing. Carmel is planned for a much smaller population. It is very good that the population is growing. You're like ha in the claims that there is a load. because of constructions. . Why not the buildings of the past are not planned to live densely in a rattan house. And the girls in TMA only solve problems for many families. The tent of the moment that allows construction without planning lateral changes according to the number of changes of the building. Such as roads, streets and the gardens and schools just to reduce the load. It is good that there is population growth, but the municipalities must change their thinking and increase their heads as soon as they change The width of streets and even build more streets. The traffic lights. Think about how to relieve congestion. But we learned that patience and long-suffering are needed.
The lower station in Ramat Eshkol (Freud) is a life hazard both for people waiting at the station and for passengers on the bus. The field of vision for a bus driver is almost zero and if a truck driver or even a car flies fast and does not notice that there is a bus at the station, he will hit it and the result is death!!
It is very bad that the Ministry of Transport did not investigate the matter despite many complaints!!!
Another problem is the beggars who walk back and forth in the middle of the lane and obstruct the traffic, endangering themselves and the drivers and slowing down the passage at the intersection. This phenomenon started in the last two or three years and since then only more and more intersections are being added that the beggars take over.
There is it at the Moriah Zafarir intersection in both directions, in Horev, on the heroes' road in both directions, at the intersection before Mtm, it is simply a nuisance and an unnecessary danger.
All over Haifa the condition of the roads is bad! The city's engineers for generations paved improper, incorrect roads and intersections (Dori Road, Freud Road, Carmel Center...) that we will all suffer from for many years to come!
To immediately open the closed neighborhoods with road construction towards the 4-neighborhood road with only one access road is a safety hazard!!!!!!!!!
Parking must be canceled in central roads!!!!!!
to give way to a moving vehicle.
Buying private vehicles and parking in public space!!!!!-cannot exist in a reformed country.
But here they don't know what the meaning of no is!!!!!
There are solutions to the existing situation, but the municipality must spend
funds to finance it
To produce urban transportation 24/7-possible-one only needs to want!!!!
The situation will reduce the desire to use a private vehicle.
People must think differently, be open to changes, which will lead to an improvement in the situation, otherwise there will be a fixation that will get worse.:
The residents will continue to use private vehicles, wait hours on the road, try to break the law, complain, and keep complaining.
This will not solve the problem.
I returned from Tel Aviv.
The city is starting to clear of vehicles, quiet sidewalks with pedestrians and pleasure cyclists.
Light rail 10 minutes I'm in a friend's office in Petah Tikva. Ten minutes back at the stock exchange for a business meeting.
In the afternoon we go to a restaurant in Tel Aviv for five minutes.
No traffic jams, no parking search, no walking between vehicles on blocked sidewalks..
There is no substitute for good public transportation.
Haifa owes Carmelit line 2 to the university and Carmelit line 3 funicular on the Plyman-Freud route from Neve Shanan through the Horev center to the stadium and the Carmel beach. Without these two lines Carmel will close and the quality of life will disappear.
Haifa needs to implement a strategic plan to encourage complementary transportation, along with increased public transportation lines with only buses: 1. Fast circular shuttles. 2. Implementation of a bicycle lane network in the neighborhoods and between the coastal and Carmel neighborhoods. 3. Total removal of vehicles from the sidewalks and the creation of wide and safe sidewalks. 4. Closing roads for bus interchanges. Turning planned downhill roads into bus interchange roads only. 5. Enforcement of vehicles parked on roads and obstructing traffic.
Tel Aviv implements all this.
Unbearable traffic congestion is caused on the street of the Spark deportees due to a large number of driving lesson vehicles, both private and public, must limit the driving lessons during rush hours, the traffic jams created by the lesson cars, which sometimes drag from David Avenue to the intersection. Another fact is that the driving instructors frequently park without stopping near the cowboy restaurant and block A route with a serious issue that for some reason is not treated and causes a serious disturbance on the road
At the shack intersection there is also a traffic light problem, I contacted the municipality almost every day and their disregard is appalling
In all the cities of the world, they are moving to car-free neighborhoods.
Only here are people sewn into their cars.
The solution: electric neighborhood shuttles from central thoroughfares. Each neighborhood according to its needs.
We are moving to Chabats
Quality of Life.
The problem is that public transportation in Haifa is very bad, I went from Harev to Ramot Ramez, by car it's a 5-6 minute trip including traffic lights, by bus it took me 45! minutes including a 30 minute wait at the entrance to Remez. I decided that I don't travel by bus anymore
What about the Moriah-Zafarir intersection?
Those coming from Zerubbabel Street can stand for more than 10 minutes in the 40-meter section, from the street exit to the traffic light. Timing has been lacking since the Commune period and there has been no change for 4 years.
What is happening in the area of the German colony is not better and in general it already seems that the whole city is overburdened and overburdened.
Haifa's engineer needs to take this issue and find a creative solution that will also involve better timings of public transportation that will reduce the load of vehicles in the city.
The article did not mention the problem of stratification of the city, especially the Horev intersection, which is full of potholes and terrible potholes, including a section of the highway in front of the center of Horev. Another issue that was not mentioned - road preparation in addition to the road from all the southern and eastern neighborhoods to the Horev intersection, such as Dania, Almogi, Ramat Begin, Nosh , Ramot Ramez, Alon and many others. In this matter, not only Einat is to blame, but also the new mayor, Yona Yahav, who did nothing because of predatory neighborhood lobbying in Idar. A single exit from the Dania neighborhood today is a real danger to lives during a fire, as has already happened, despite the fact that Lower Dania is close to the Carmel Castle within walking distance. These actions alone would have released a lot of pressure from Horev Junction and even Raul Wallenberg because the load from Freud would be reduced. Even the current Carmel Hospital, which was built on the estate only because of land that belonged to the general public and for no other logical reason, contributes a lot to the neighborhood traffic barracks. It's time to move it to Kiryat Ata Vifa an hour earlier.
Reuven road layering has nothing to do with the topic of the article - the topic was not "roads" but "congestion".
And the same congestion in Horeb as Kara is not created by the 200 Dania vehicles that probably also leave at different times, but by the tens of thousands that flow to the Horev intersection from four different roads, so connecting Dania to the Carmel Castle is not exactly a solution that will solve the problem, and therefore not a high priority for the hundreds of thousands of residents in Haifa. .
Experience shows that every expansion and addition to the roads is a temporary solution, and in the end more vehicles enter the road and within a few years the problem returns to _exactly_ the same situation and usually with a new set of problems in addition.
An exchange in the ruins might help, but not feasible.
Taking vehicles off the road and putting people on buses/cable cars or on bicycles (or, heaven forbid, on foot) is the only solution that can ease the situation with those who insist on preserving a bit of the insane nativity.
A bus replaces about 40 vehicles on the road and takes up less space and is less prone to fatal accidents.
There are transportation solutions. I hope that Mayor Yona Yahav will do the right thing.
The traffic jams in Moria will increase from 10-15 minutes for crossing the axis in rush hour, to 30-40 minutes. All surveys and tests have been done. All the solutions of downhill roads to the coastal neighborhoods or changing the exit from the neighborhoods to the axis roads are illusions. It's like the flow of water - you made it easier to leave a neighborhood and created a bigger traffic jam at the next intersection.
There is an excellent solution called efficient public transportation and a variety of complementary measures. In each neighborhood in the ridge there are another 500-1000 apartments in the renewal of Tama 38 and eviction. This means thousands more cars every year in the range. And more free parking for pensioners that encourages traffic jams.
More downhill roads will encourage movement into and through the neighborhoods, which will cause huge damage to the neighborhoods. It is enough to see Freud's traffic jams and the Sea Road.
The solution is a bus shelter, Carmelit line 2 to the university and solutions such as a congestion tax on crossing the Moriah highway during rush hours and eliminating parking near public buildings and campuses such as universities and hospitals so that they come by bus.
She had 5 years to try to solve the problems but all she did was fight with the whole world. Eyal, don't forget to blame Yahav, Mitzna, Gural and maybe even Abba Khushi.
And they continue to build more homes in Haifa! The municipality must not allow more construction to continue in Haifa! Not in existing residential areas and not in wadis! Outrageous density, poor quality of life
Opening roads to the imprisoned neighborhoods has been talked about for a million years, but nothing has been done. It is also a matter of load, but mainly a matter of safety when evacuation is required. We've all been in this movie in the big fires.
Leaving Dania in the direction of Metm - only a short road is required.
Leaving Carmelia below - mandatory
Connecting Sabioni Dania to Ramat Alon - there is a gravel road that requires asphalt paving for only 100 m.
What are you waiting for? Will another disaster happen?
Yona Yahav, let's see you doing and not just talking and promising.
And not a word about the heavy loads in Wadi Nissens.
for axis development
What to do? Open roads from the neighborhoods below.
Then the residents of the neighborhoods will not have to go home through Freud, Moriah and Abba Khushi