A new world order: Dizengoff Sq. to be brought down to street level
In preparation for the demolition, Tel Aviv residents are dreading the noise pollution, dust and extensive traffic jams; the Tel Aviv municipality expects the project to take two months.
The Tel Aviv Municipality released upcoming changes in traffic on Tuesday that will take place as part of a project aimed at lowering the famous Dizengoff Square back to its original, street level position. The project, whose estimated cost will be roughly NIS 60 million and should take about two months, includes not only demolishing the current elevated square and erecting a new one, but also redoing the surrounding roads and sidewalks, refurbishing the underground infrastructure, installing a statue in lieu of the existing fire-breathing, music playing, mobile water-fountain, and add a bicycle lane.
The planned construction is due to create massive traffic jams in the Central Tel Aviv area. Tel Aviv Municipality's Engineering Department has met with representatives of Tel Aviv Police Department in preparation for the noise, street closures and traffic. Work will be scheduled to take place 16 hours a day, from 07:00 until 23:00.
During the first stage of the project, the area around Dizengoff Sq. will be divided into four sectors, each of which will be blocked off so that the work could take place: Arlozorov and Frishman streets will block the northern routes leading to the square. Ibn Bvirol, King George and Bar Kochba streets will block the east and south directions leading to it. Esther Hamalka St. will become a one-way street between Shulamit and Reines streets. And portions of Esther Hamalka and Reines will become culs-de-sac.
The overall project will also include the uprooting of over several ficus trees that are over 70 years old, a move that has raised criticism from local residents, some of whom went as far as to post obituaries on the trees themselves. Protests over the matter are planned to take place with the commencement of the project.
The square was inaugurated in 1938 and was named after Zina Diznegoff, the wife of Tel Aviv's first mayor, Meir Dizengoff. The square was elevated in 1976 to ease some of the traffic caused by traffic passing through it. A few years later, sculptor Yaakov Agam's now-famous "Fire and Water" mobile fountain was set up at its center. The decision to return the square to ground level was reached earlier this year.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai referred to the project, saying, "Dizengoff Sq. is a symbol of the industry of days past, when the world preferred private vehicles by taking an urban street and turning it into a public interchange. Lowering the square back to street level holds an important public statement, which can have a very substantial contribution to public space."
