170 meters above Rokach Boulevard: Tel Aviv's new jewel
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality has begun construction of a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Rokach Boulevard. The structure will connect the city's northwestern neighborhoods to Yarkon Park, ensuring safer transit.
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality has begun the first phase of constructing a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, which is set to be built over Rokach Boulevard, as a continuation of Levi Eshkol Street.
The bridge is intended to provide a connection between the city's northwestern neighborhoods beyond the Yarkon River — Kochav HaTzafon, Nofei Yam, Tochnit Lamed, and Sde Dov — and Yarkon Park, and subsequently to the city center.
According to the plan, the bridge is meant to be part of a future urban axis in the north-south direction, including two bridges — over Rokach Boulevard and over the Yarkon River. The bridges are intended to create continuous connectivity to the center of Tel Aviv, Weizmann Street, Kikar HaMedina, and further south to Shaul HaMelech Street for pedestrians and cyclists.
The bridge, approximately 170 meters long and six meters wide in total, will be divided into a passage for pedestrians and a three-meter-wide bicycle path, with a separation strip between them. It will be built from a steel structure and a bamboo deck.
The shape of the bridge will give it a unique appearance, and underneath it, on both sides of Rokach Boulevard, bicycle parking will be located. Many trees will be planted to the north and south of the bridge.
The bridge will be accessible to people with disabilities, without an elevator, and will be safe for nighttime passage thanks to lighting embedded in the handrail.
"Connecting the city from north to south and from east to west is not just a planning goal, but a central value in our vision for changing the way people move around the city. Busy roads are a challenge, and our role is to create safe, continuous, and inviting connections above and between them for pedestrians and cyclists," noted Deputy Mayor of Tel Aviv-Yafo and head of the transportation portfolio, Meital Lehavi.
"The bridge expresses exactly this concept: it connects the city's northwestern neighborhoods to Yarkon Park and allows residents to safely cross the busy Rokach Boulevard. Its planned extension over the Yarkon River will be able to create even greater continuity for walking and cycling in the future, from Yarkon Park to the city center. A connected city is a safer, quieter, and more accessible city, especially for children, young people, and anyone who is more vulnerable to the dangers on the road."
