The Jerusalem District Court today ruled that the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee erred in approving the Jerusalem light rail Blue Line route along Emek Refaim Street in the German Colony without first allowing the issue to be discussed by the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee.
The court ruled that the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee will only be able to approve the route after the Jerusalem Local Planning and Building Committee has discussed the matter. Thus the court only partly accepted the suit by Advs. Eli Wilchik and Meirav Barnea of the Refaim Bemoshavot NGO. The organization opposes the Emek Refaim St. section of the route claiming that the light rail will destroy the businesses along the route and the historic character of the street. They are proposing a tunnel beneath the Mesilat (Railway) Park instead.
The Blue Line will extend for 23 kilometers from Ramot in the north of Jerusalem to Gilo in the south
