JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Knesset committee has approved controversial plans to build a cable car to the Old City of Jerusalem.
The $55 million project is planned to stretch nearly one mile from the First Station entertainment complex located near the German Colony in Jerusalem to the Dung Gate near the entrance to the Western Wall Plaza in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The plan was approved on Monday by the National Infrastructure Committee. It has been opposed by environmentalists, urban planners, architects and Palestinian residents, among others.
Opponents say the plan will not relieve traffic in the city, just move it to a new quadrant of the city.
It calls for 73 carriages strung on overhead cables carrying about 3,000 passengers in each direction every hour. In total, 73 carriages will be used to ferry passengers back and forth.
The Tourism Ministry has supported the year-old plan, calling it a way to reduce traffic congestion and a way to attract tourists.
The plan must now be approved by the government.
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