One of the more ambitious building projects on tap is the planned transformation of the junction between Kikar Yahalom and the MA mall into a cultural and leisure meeting place. With the upcoming dedication of the music conservatory, and the completion of the adjacent cultural center, as well as the planned conversion of Sifria Street into a pedestrian walkway, Ma’ale Adumim will provide its residents with an attractive area for leisure and cultural activities. Construction is expected to take two years.
Another new project to be undertaken is the building of the city soccer field in Mishor Adumim, located behind the Paz and Supersol market complex.
The Yeshiva High School will get its own sports arena this year, after a long wait.
The “Nirim” school for special education will be built, as will a day center for the elderly. Tourist attractions in the form of two birdwatching look-outs will be constructed this year, one in the Pri Megadim (03) neighborhood, and the other at the Good Samaritan Inn.
And finally, the northern city entrance (coming from Jerusalem, the left fork of the Ma’ale Adumim off-ramp) is scheduled to be opened in February-March 2012. The road, to become Ma’ale Adumim’s main entryway, will duck under the Ma’ale Adumim junction bridge and head south, up the valley between the Klei Shir and Pri Megadim neighborhoods towards the “white eagle” roundabout. One of the major benefits of the new entrance will be the elimination of friction between Ma’ale Adumim residents and Arab drivers from Azaria and the Palestinian areas who will continue to use the southern road.
Longterm residents have been hearing about the “soon-to-be-completed” northern entrance since the late 1990’s when the southern entrance road was dedicated. While they would be excused for being skeptical about this latest pronoucement, activity on the ground seems to indicate that it really is about to happen.
According to municipal plans, the (current, main) entrance off the southern road would be closed down gradually following the opening of the northern entrance due to the high costs of manning two checkpoints, instead of one. Since permanently closing the southern entrance would adversely affect the lives of residents of the Pri Megadim 03 and the southern section of the Tzemach Hasadeh (06) neighborhood, not to mention the residents of Kedar with children at MA schools, or jobs to commute to in the city, a proposal was put forward whereby both entrances would remained manned at a cost of NIS 2 per month per Ma’ale Adumim household. According to the Zman Ma’ale weekly, there is a good chance the proposal will be placed on the docket of the next MA city council meeting.