Jerusalem officials are divided over an ambitious planned construction project to build a land bridge and urban complex above the Begin Highway.

Mayor Moshe Lion and his urban development team say the project will connect disparate parts of the city, add thousands of new housing units and improve overall quality of life in the city. Detractors argue that the planned development will increase congestion in some neighborhoods and damage the city’s natural beauty. Nearly 600 objections have been filed with the municipality against the plan.

The Begin Rooftop project is a plan to build a 214-dunam (53-acre) complex over the Begin Highway that will include 2,210 housing units, five 45-story towers and 64 dunams of open public spaces.

The project would create a land bridge connecting the Beit Hakerem neighborhood and Givat Ram campus, making it easy to walk between the two areas. The municipality says that some 30% of the new area would be allotted for open public space, while new public transportation routes, bicycle paths and pedestrian walkways would help ease congestion in the city.

Lion is enthusiastically supportive of the project, calling it “a spectacular, innovative and advanced plan that is unparalleled in the country.”

“This plan creates ecological........

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