(haipo) Residents of the new Romema neighborhood on Operation Yonatan Street have been describing a difficult daily reality in recent weeks, which they claim has made their lives unbearable since the electric company began work to bury a high-voltage line in the neighborhood. The neighborhood WhatsApp group has become a stormy arena of complaints, documentation and calls for help, with residents sharing with each other the hazards, traffic congestion and significant disruptions to daily life. Many of them claim that the quality of life that was associated with the neighborhood has been dramatically damaged, and that the municipality and the electric company are not doing enough to make things easier for them during the work period.
Residents describe traffic chaos and disappearing parking
One resident says that “the group was shocked and shocked” following a message from a resident who noticed that the few parking spaces left on the street had been nationalized by the electric company for the purpose of the work. According to him, this is a significant violation of routine: “For years we parked our second car on the street, because most of us only have one private parking space. Now there are simply no parking spaces. What are we supposed to do? Park hundreds of meters away from home and walk every morning and evening? It doesn’t make sense.”
Other residents point out that the cancellation of parking is only a small part of the problem. According to them, the change in traffic arrangements has turned the street into a one-way street, which has caused serious disruptions in the ability to enter and exit the neighborhood. “Anyone who comes to the Vardiya intersection cannot enter the old Romma,” says a resident. “We can only go towards Horev and the Sports Hall, but anyone who needs to get to the Carmel Center has to make a big detour. There are young couples here with children in the Municipal Schools, classes and TUS Reali, and it is simply impossible.”
Safety concerns: “The road has become more dangerous”
Many residents are warning about the increase in vehicle speeds on Moriah Boulevard and the Shimshon Intersection since the street became one-way. “Since vehicles from the old Ramma are no longer able to merge into the traffic circle, drivers are simply driving faster,” says one of them. “We contacted the municipality, and a road engineer came to see the situation. The municipality agreed with us that it was dangerous, and they suggested putting up signs asking drivers to slow down. But who really slows down because of a sign? That won’t prevent accidents.”
Residents say it poses a real risk to children living in the area, especially in the morning and afternoon. “The road has become a highway,” says a mother of two. “We’re afraid to let the children walk. It wasn’t like this before the work.”
Heavy traffic: “Let them be here for half an hour – they will understand everything”
One resident suggests that the municipality come to the Vardiya intersection at 7:30 a.m. to see the situation with their own eyes. “It’s impossible to describe what’s happening here,” she says. “A road that’s supposed to be a two-lane road has become a one-lane road, and that’s creating crazy traffic jams. Some of us take a big detour, some get stuck in traffic jams that weren’t here before. It’s just terrible, and who knows how long this will last.”
She says the congestion isn’t just a nuisance, it’s also making it difficult to get to work, school and classes on time. “It affects every aspect of our lives,” she adds. “We feel like our neighborhood has become one big construction zone.”
Broad urban implications and similar struggles in other cities
Burying overhead power lines is not just a local issue, but a large-scale infrastructure process that has been taking place in many cities in Israel in recent years. These are complex projects that aim to upgrade the electricity grid, increase supply capacity, and adapt the infrastructure to the future needs of the population. However, almost everywhere where similar work has begun, from Ra'anana to Rishon LeZion, there have been objections from residents who claimed significant harm to the quality of life, traffic congestion, the cancellation of parking lots, and prolonged disruption to routine. In some cities, petitions have even been filed with the courts demanding a reexamination of the urban planning approvals and the planning processes. These struggles emphasize that burying power lines, despite its infrastructural importance, requires close coordination with residents, full transparency, and careful planning of temporary traffic arrangements, otherwise the public price could be heavy.
Legal battle: Residents of Old Romema prepare for court hearing
In addition to the damage to quality of life, the residents of Old Romema are preparing for a legal battle with the electric company, which is expected to take place in October. They claim that there was a flaw in the project approval, and they are asking the court to check whether the burial of the power lines has a proper planning permission. “This is not just a matter of inconvenience,” says one of the residents. “This is the first power line in a series of lines that will be buried in Haifa. Today it is on Operation Yonatan Street, but tomorrow it could be under any of our houses.”
Residents emphasize that they are not opposed to upgrading the city’s electricity infrastructure, but demand that it be done in a transparent, legal, and coordinated manner with residents. “We feel like we were not counted,” says a resident. “The work has started, and we are the ones paying the price.”
Municipality: “The works are a national project – not the municipality’s”
In response to the residents' request, the Haifa Municipality said that this is a national project of the Electric Company, carried out by it and not by the municipality. According to them, the cancellation of the parking spaces was approved after months of inspections and repairs, and the residents were informed about the issue. "The plans were presented to them in a meeting and a tour of the area was also conducted with them."
The municipality adds that the temporary traffic arrangements are approved for a fixed period of time, and that there is no basis for the claim that there is no time limit for the work to be carried out. The representative of the Public Inquiries Division is in continuous contact with residents and is working to make things as easy for them as possible. In addition, the municipality will work to place a preliminary sign warning drivers of the work.
The Electric Company: “A vital project to strengthen the electricity grid in Haifa”
The electric company said that the work on Operation Yonatan Street is part of a project to bury an overhead power line designed to strengthen the city's electricity grid and increase electricity supply capacity in the coming years. "This is a complex infrastructure project that includes excavation, laying underground infrastructure and rehabilitating the street."
The Electric Company emphasizes that the changes in traffic and parking arrangements were determined in coordination with the municipality and the Israel Police, and that they are adjusted to the progress of the work and safety considerations. “We understand the difficulty caused to residents and apologize for the temporary inconvenience,” it said.
Residents fear the future: “What happens here can happen all over Haifa”
Despite the apologies, residents are having a hard time accepting the situation. Many of them fear that the work will take a long time and that similar projects will begin in other neighborhoods in the city. “We are the first,” says one of them. “But it won’t end here. All of Haifa is facing a major infrastructural change, and if there is no control, we will all suffer.”
He says residents expect the city to protect them and make sure the work is done responsibly. “We’re not against development,” he says. “We’re against harming residents.”
Oh no, how poor they are, they only have private parking for one car out of 2 or more in the family and they have nowhere to park the others.
The tears. Wow. So hard. So sad.
Come on, go look for it. Don't cry about it.
Everything else is still legitimate. I understand the complaints. Why cry about the lack of parking when you have private parking? Come on…
Here's what they told me:
This is a new, double-circuit voltage line, Romema-Bikurim.
This involves 4 km of cable laying, 22 connection boxes between the Romema substation and the new substation located in the middle of HaAsif Street. The implementation was expected to be problematic, the municipality did not inform the residents, but there were many arguments about the method of implementation (in parallel or in series, i.e. section by section). Finally, it was decided to do sections, and this will create more and more hazards in the Romema, Shimshon, Bikurim, HaAsif Street areas, which are expected to be the next ones.
There was also great opposition to the ICM on Asif Street. In the end, of course, the electric company "defeated" the municipality.
The work now is to connect these two substations, and therefore the entire area between HaAsif Street, Bikurim, Yotam, and Shimshon is expected to suffer from work and street closures in the next two years.
A company employee claimed that the next in line would be Yotam Street – Ehud – Kiryat Sefer
And that new projects on these streets are being delayed because of the expected closure of six months to a year.
I can't understand this generation. On the one hand, there was agreement from residents to improve the city's electrical infrastructure, but this includes entering the regional/personal sphere of living. They're starting to complain. This is simply a hallucination because a culture of complaints has developed here, and I live in a language center in general, and it's taking a more aggressive form.
And patience is the key. Enough is enough to pollute the air with endless complaints. True, it is challenging in the current reality of life, but there is much good to focus on. And a little walk home, even from a distance of hundreds of meters, won't kill anyone. A little proportion won't hurt us.
For infrastructure renewal, residents need patience and tolerance – that's the situation, and less to tease each other in WhatsApp groups.
Infrastructure work was also carried out on Shimshon Street throughout the hot months of July and August, lasting over a month and a half. Work that caused many inconveniences. The road became a one-way street, and in order to reach the beginning of the street, it was necessary to take a detour. There were not enough parking spaces, and the private parking spaces were also inaccessible, and the residents of the street were forced to park their cars on nearby and distant streets, along with dust and noise and the feeling of living on a construction site. But ultimately, it is for the sake of better infrastructure. And we must take into account that these things cause inconvenience for a certain period of time, but in the long run, it will improve the situation.
The municipality, of course, does not help the residents. Since when does it represent residents?!
Should the municipality provide a service for the benefit of the residents and not the electric company?
They just say it's 'not our problem'
You get it.. This is the level of service to residents in the municipality of Harpa. Shrugging and saying it's something 'mundane' is a joke.
Just don't have it like their work on the road towards the Grand. If it's finished in 6 years, it will be an achievement.
All this suffering and concerns about radiation would have been avoided if they had routed the line along the logical and shorter route, through Wadi Eban. But there is no one to talk to, the electric company is not willing to consider, and the municipality and its head are hiding behind a fig leaf (a representative of the public inquiries department). The leaf doesn't help, you see.
No radiation
Since when has Jonathan been doing this in New Rome?
Operation Yonatan Street does not belong to the new and/or old Romema neighborhood, but rather to the Ahuza neighborhood.
There is no problem leaving the street towards the center of Carmel.
Operation Jonathan does belong to the Romema neighborhood, and it's a nightmare to drive through it now.
Check before you just write.
But what should we expect from the electric company's bots?
A little order: Operation Jonathan is a war at the beginning and a little bit at the end of the old Romema (the old Romema: the hill behind the sports hall. Palmach, snipers, Keren Hayesod, Ze'ev Carmi). The new Romema: the hill in front of the sports hall. Hantke, Oren, the submarine Decker, Martin Buber, Shoshana Damari).