The anticipated Nov. 30 opening of Israel’s longest tunnel marks the end of four years of construction and more than a decade of controversy. But completion of the 6.5-kilometer-long Carmel Tunnels, a $300-million build-operate-transfer highway project, will vastly improve traffic flow in the port city of Haifa and is the first major project in Israel for a Chinese contractor.
The project, involving major tunneling work deep below Mount Carmel and the city’s residential neighborhoods, also is the second-largest BOT job in the Middle East, project officials say. The toll route is expected to reduce travel time substantially in and through Haifa, the country’s third-largest city, by steering traffic away from the congested downtown area.