The reopening of the Kerem Tunnel is a big deal for the cyclist community of Tel Aviv. While the benefits of green transportation are apparent, it is hard to restructure the logistics in the city to accommodate people who want to use bicycles instead of CO2 emitting machines that also cause traffic jams and all sorts of other nasty things that many contemporary metropolitan areas are trying to get rid of.
5 years ago, the Kerem Tunnel was reconstructed to be available for bicycles instead of being an abandoned piece of the architectural legacy left unsupervised by the Hagihon Water Company supplying water to the city. The tunnel is a part of a still functioning aqueduct. The new route for bicycles was opened with aplomb but was closed off due to budgetary reasons.
It was once again opened when COVID-19 started making its first appearances in mass media. Many cyclists started forgetting this exciting part of the citywide logistical infrastructure for cyclists, but it seems that the government had plans to reopen it, but these were ruined by the pandemic. After two years of back-and-forth, the Kerem Tunnel can be traversed once again.
Tel Aviv is building more pathways for cyclists
While many enthusiasts of two-wheel transportation powered by the organic force of human muscles still believe that the city must do more for the community, we cannot deny that there were some notable improvements even if they turned out to be underwhelming.
The Jaffa municipality announced in 2020 that it will focus on building new paths for bicycles to cover over 300 km of routes within Tel Aviv by 2025. It is a great initiative that was immediately praised by the media and residents, but the results were not as flashy as many expected. Tel Aviv is the only city in Israel that focuses so much on creating more transportation options for its residents by building bicycles and running paths throughout the city.
However, the issue is that some of the work done by hired contractors is not up to par with public expectations. For example, wooden tracks that were supposed to be used by runners turned out to be made of stone and cement causing knee pain for many fitness enthusiasts who started using flatter bicycle roads and causing issues for those who ride them. Another problem is the lack of other infrastructural elements like rails for stairs that could facilitate walking bicycles across unfriendly city terrain.
Tel Aviv’s fight against traffic jams
The city is ranked 16th among cities with the most congested traffic globally according to Tomtom. The number of privately owned cars is 2,95 million. We have a big problem with automobiles. It is no wonder that a single sinkhole on the highway nearly paralyzed the traffic and was addressed by the national transportation ministry. It is not a problem of infrastructure. It is a problem of having too many cars on the road.
Another issue that we have to remember is the level of CO2 emissions. Environmentalists will condemn the following point, but the city indeed holds 784th place in the global ranking by CO2 emissions which is a lot, but it is still overshadowed by logistical issues that could be solved by simply allowing more people to ride bicycles freely within the city limits.
Even with more plans on expanding the network of paths for cyclists, it could be an inefficient measure to change the traffic situation in the city. We need to also address the quality of maintenance and construction of these paths.
Local soil is cracked by vegetation creating an unfriendly foundation for any bicycle tracks. Without proper management and maintenance, these narrow pathways will quickly erode and lose any value in terms of utility provided to bicycle enthusiasts. We need to step up our game, Tel Aviv, and do more for those who do not like spending their lives confined in budget cars.