Traffic filled the Jerusalem streets last week.
First, there were major international conferences
with motorcades and official limousines and sirens.
Vladimir Putin was in Jerusalem for only one day,
but he caused a traffic mess of presidential proportions.
The Russian flags welcoming him to Jerusalem were still flying after he left.
Schools held countless end-of-year performances for families,
making driving unpredictable and parking sometimes impossible.
The usual was bad enough, but wait–it got worse.
The Promenades of the Tayelet are perfect for views
of the Old City Walls.
In May,
smoke could be seen from several fires below the Tayelet,
but they did not spread.
Recently, however, there have been multiple fires in the area.
Last week the main Route #1 into Jerusalem was shut down
while firefighters worked to put out fires and
thousands of people were stuck in traffic for hours.
There have also been less serious fires that do not make the news.
Traffic came to a stop for one such fire near Kiryat Gat,
while planes circled above.
We were able to turn around and take another route back to Jerusalem,
so I do not know how long it took to re-open the road.
The funeral for former Prime Minister Shamir is later today,
and it could be a traffic disaster of Prime Ministerial proportions.
Major construction on Route #1 is scheduled to start soon,
so we are in for years of serious traffic nightmares.
Bad traffic situations ahead seem to be a certainty,
but surely we can put an end to some of the dangerous fires.
