NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System announced this morning that it has begun the process of land expropriation for construction of the Tel Aviv Metropolitan area Metro. The process had been frozen for eight months by Minister of Transport Miri Regev who refused to sign the expropriation orders until NIS 2.4 billion shekels was diverted, with the approval of the Ministry of Finance from her ministry's budget, to promote railway links to Kiryat Shmona and Eilat (out of about NIS 60 billion required for the project). The orders were frozen once again with the outbreak of the war, and now after a significant delay in the schedules, the process has begun.
NTA announced that at this stage, land will be expropriated in the center of the network only for the construction of the M1 and M3 lines in Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva, Holon, Bat Yam, Rishon Lezion, Or Yehuda and Kiryat Ono. NTA said, "Due to the situation and the difficult time the country is in, a plan is being prepared to conduct the expropriation procedure with the utmost sensitivity, so that at this stage no housing will be expropriated," the company said. During the first stage of the expropriation procedure, about 11,000 personal expropriation notices will be sent to the registered owners of land in over 800 lots.
Adv. Inbal Kanka, who is responsible for the procedure at NTA, said, "Expropriation of land in the Metro project is a complex matter, which NTA treats with special sensitivity. We have created a transparent and fair mechanism for compensation as well as a raft of creative solutions that will be made available to those who have been dispossessed. The NTA has put up a dedicated page on its website for all the owners of the land that is required for expropriation. In addition, NTA operates teams of professional consultants who are available for those receiving expropriation orders."
The Metro: Three lines, 109 stations, 150 kilometers of track
The Tel Aviv Metropolitan area Metro is the biggest infrastructure project currently being planned in Israel. The project includes three lines, M1, M2, and M3, which will expand and complete central Israel's mass transit system. The project will encompass 109 stations along 150 kilometers of track extending through 24 local authorities and transporting two million passengers per day and which together with the light rail lines will change commuting habits in the Gush Dan region.
The expropriation procedure includes approval of the statutory plan and signing of the purchase plan which have already been implemented, with now individual notifications being sent. Personal meetings will then be held at the property. Then, the NTA explains, the owners of the land rights will meet the professional expropriation team. "The meeting will take place at the expropriated property, during which the expropriation team will document the condition of the property and the connections (connected are anything that has a permanent connection to the land such as: trees, buildings, facilities, etc.) in the protocol. NTA's expropriation team will study the data and prepare an appraiser's opinion, based on which the expropriation compensation will be calculated. Subsequently payment notices will be sent to the beneficiaries that includes the aforementioned opinion, later, the expropriated property will be fenced off and actually expropriated."
Adv. Kanka said, "We were concerned that we would send notifications to somebody who had been murdered or taken hostage or immediate family members and to prevent this we cross-referenced data with the Prime Minister's Office. The total area that will be expropriated at this stage is about 2,300 dunams (575 acres) out of the 11,000 dunams (2,750 acres) that will be expropriated as part of the project, but it must be remembered that this includes open land as well as small lots in the heart of urban areas." "In addition, in 22 areas, the Ministry of Finance has budgeted the Apartment Rental Co. and the Urban Renewal Authority to plan consolidation and allocation plans that would give building rights to replace expropriated properties, and commercial areas, for example, providing significant enhancement."
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