Bnei Brak Municipality Clashes With Police Over Omar Adam Concert Road Closures: 'Residents Are Not Hostages'

Bnei Brak's municipal CEO fired off an urgent letter to the commander of the Dan District police Tuesday, demanding that officers find traffic solutions rather than seal off access routes to the Sofrim (Writers') Quarter neighborhood during a series of massive Omar Adam concerts at the adjacent Ramat Gan Stadium.

Some 40,000 concertgoers are expected each night of the run, which opens Tuesday evening.

The police plan calls for sweeping closures of major arteries surrounding the neighborhood from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and again during dispersal from 10:30 p.m. to midnight. Among the roads slated for closure: the Mivtza Kadesh Bridge, the Raoul Wallenberg-Shtrit intersection, Shtrit Street before the tunnel, the Im HaMoshavot axis from Sheshet HaYamim and Mivtza Kadesh streets, and HaMaccabim Street from Im HaMoshavot toward HaYarkon Street.

Additional closures are planned on Abuchatzeira Street at the Lechi intersection in Bnei Brak and on Ben Gurion Street in Ramat Gan between Jabotinsky and Abba Hillel.

The municipality says the cumulative effect amounts to a near-total blockade of the neighborhood, trapping hundreds of families in their homes.

Adding to residents' frustration is a glaring irony: just last week, officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new bridge connecting Im HaMoshavot Road to Lechi Street in Bnei Brak, a project specifically designed to provide the Sofrim Quarter with an alternate access route and prevent exactly this kind of gridlock during stadium events. The bridge, however, has yet to open to regular vehicle traffic due to unresolved issues with external parties, leaving residents dependent on the same old roads now being closed.

"The municipality stands shoulder to shoulder with residents in their justified struggle," city officials said in a statement. "We are working intensively with all relevant bodies to bring about the full and immediate opening of the new bridge as soon as possible. We will not accept closures that harm Bnei Brak residents' quality of life and turn them into hostages."