Tel Aviv to build urban park on top of major highway

The urban park will cover a large section of motorway in central Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv city council has given the go-ahead for a vast green park to be built on top of one of Israel's busiest highways, its reported.

The 60-acre park will be built on the Ayalon Highway, which runs through the centre of the city, at a cost $524m (£338m), Haaretz newspaper reports. As well as open green spaces, it will include a sports centre, pedestrian and cycle paths and cafes. Developers say their aim is to create a pedestrian-friendly green space in the centre of Israel's main coastal city. The urban park will also connect neighbourhoods currently divided by the thoroughfare, rail tracks and the Ayalon River. Haaretz describes it as "the most ambitious municipal project in the country's history." This video simulation shows what the park will look like when it is completed.

The "grey to green transformation" will be carried out in stages, according to the Tel Aviv Local Building and Building Commission. Work on the project is expected to begin in three to five years but is dependent on planning approval. The council says the park will benefit local residents, but comment on social media is mixed. Many users welcome the project as "luxury, and not just for the rich". But others are concerned about whether the ventilation and drainage work will be adequate enough to counter pollution within the tunnel.

Some comment suggests the funds would have been better spent on the long-overdue Tel Aviv Light Railway. One user suggests transport alternatives, such as a "metro like London, Paris and New York", and calls on the council to add electric bike lanes. Another is sceptical of the plan, saying the money would be better spent on renovating Tel Aviv's old buildings - "the city mostly looks like a dump, but it doesn't have to be this way".

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