Jerusalemites have become resigned to the capital’s status as a citywide construction site. Gridlock, noise pollution at all hours, detritus flying everywhere – these are familiar problems that cannot be escaped as Jerusalem modernizes under the direction of Mayor Moshe Lion.
Nevermind what appears to be a lack of urban planning, logistics that seem designed to torture residents, and the prospect of Jerusalem losing its sleepy charm, becoming just another generic metropolis. The good people of King George Street and its surroundings – the city center shopping hub – are facing a grimmer prospect: losing their livelihood.
As the city makes way for expansion of the light rail’s Blue Line, it has entirely closed off King George Street to traffic, also blocking the entrances to Agrippas and Ben Hillel streets – making pedestrian passage from the shuk to the city center nearly impossible. Potential customers with intentions to shop around King George and on the Ben-Yehuda pedestrian mall have been forced to stay away in droves.
As goods sit on shelves and café seats sit empty, proprietors like R., owner of a gift shop – operating for 40 years – have been trying their best to get the mayor’s attention. Instructed by the 106 municipal hotline to send a letter, they did so well over a week ago, with a missive signed by 200-300 affected business owners. Receiving no response, R. told me they will be sending it again this week.
“We very much want to see Jerusalem developed,” he affirmed passionately. “We are law-abiding citizens who are in favor of the construction. But in order to save our businesses, we simply ask that the city build a pedestrian bridge from Agrippas and Ben Hillel streets to cross over King George – to link Mahaneh Yehuda to the city center.”
Merchants have fallen on hard times for around six years at this point, R. explained. It started with COVID in 2020, followed by two years of war, culminating this past summer with the shuttering – for four months of road work – of portions of the Red Line’s light rail route that included this stretch. Tourists began trickling back slowly during the holidays, but this hopeful tide no longer has access.
Moreover, business owners are not receiving any help from the city via municipal tax reductions, funding, or similar.
Let’s not let them shrivel up and disappear, becoming one more casualty of construction.
The city’s response
Asked to comment, it emerged that the municipality – sounding alarmed – had never received the business owners’ letter. Seeing as it hadn’t reached the correct address, I forwarded it to them with all the signatures.
Later that day, the municipal spokesman stated the following:
The Jerusalem Municipality, through the Business Promotion Division and the designated project manager, is focusing its work along the Blue Line’s entire route currently under construction – to minimize the impact on King George Street business owners.
The construction, carried out by Moriah Company in cooperation with the IDF and the Transportation Ministry, is part of a large-scale transportation and infrastructure project that will contribute to upgrading the public space, improving accessibility and increasing the value of area properties and businesses.
The municipality holds regular meetings with business representatives; with the project manager’s guidance, temporary adjustments to loading/unloading arrangements, schedule updates, and ongoing coordination are constantly being examined.
Public participation meetings have been held for three years. In September 2024 and May 2025, the detailed plans were presented to merchants, and following their comments the temporary sidewalk was widened to approximately two meters in most areas.
Just last week, a discussion was held in the Business Promotion Committee regarding Blue Line development, regarding an adequate response to affected business owners.
The work on King George Street was postponed from this past July to prevent congestion in the city center, and it was also decided to postpone the installation of fences until after the holidays – to minimize the impact on businesses.
The municipality will continue to operate in a balance between the needs of urban development and the well-being of business owners.