RAMALLAH, Wednesday, February 13, 2019 (WAFA) – In an effort to solve the severe traffic congestion on the Ramallah-Qalandia road, a main thoroughfare in the central West Bank, the Palestinian government decided on Wednesday to draw plans for a new road to solve this daily problem.

Minister of Construction and Housing Mufeed Hasayneh said in a press conference in Ramallah that a new road will be opened adjacent to the Israeli segregation wall separating Jerusalem from its West Bank environs to facilitate traffic for Palestinians travelling from Ramallah to Jerusalem through Qalandia checkpoint, which is manned by the Israeli army.

He said that following government discussion of the congestion on that road that turns a 15-minute drive into hours, his ministry was instructed to find a solution that would end that dilemma for about 50,000 Palestinian cars that use that route daily.

He said that after studying the problem with other parties, such as Civil Affairs, which is the party that liaison with Israel since the road in question is under Israeli authority control because it is part of an area that falls within the Jerusalem municipal boundaries even though it is located behind the segregation wall, the ministry of transportation and the Islamic Development Bank, it was decided to issue tenders for proposal to open an alternate road.

Hasayneh said he expects the new road that will be opened along the wall will ease traffic on the main road by no less than 45 percent.

The new road, which will cost one million Israeli shekels ($275,000) to build, will be 900 meters long and 5 to 12 meters wide and will be a one way road used by commuters driving into Jerusalem only who will go through an inspection at Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem.

Residents along the Ramallah-Qalandia road who live in the neighborhood called Kufr Aqab are Jerusalem residents and holders of Israeli identity card that allows them easy access through the military checkpoint into Jerusalem.

M.K.