The Petah Tikva District Court has ordered Moshav Rishpon to relinquish 460 dunam (115 acres) of land to the Israel National Roads Company Ltd. by June 20. The land will be used for lateral Road 531. Rishpon is located on the Coastal Highway (Road 2) between Herzliya and Netanya.
After Rishpon refused to hand over land that had been expropriated for the road, the Roads Company asked the court to compel the moshav to do so. When Rishpon failed to provide any arguments against the expropriation, the court ordered it to vacate the land forthwith.
As a result of the court decision, the Roads Company now owns most of the more than 3,000 dunam (750 acres) of land needed for Road 531. The franchise contractor, Shafir Civil and Marine Engineering Ltd. now has to secure financing to build it. Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) is due to lend the money.
The 20-kilometer Road 531 will link the Coastal Highway with Road 6 (the Yitzhak Rabin Highway, also known as the Cross-Israel Highway). A railway line will run between the lanes. The road is due to open in 2012, and will cost NIS 3 billion to build.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 7, 2009
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