So, it looks like the cabinet caved in last night and finally approved the plan to find the replacement for the dismantled Jal El Dib bridge after residents threatened to close of both sides of the highway from 7:00 AM till 2:00 PM today (but later canceled, as you all know since you only spent the 2 normal hours of traffic instead of 5)

Above are the proposed renderings, which look very sexy and cool. Too bad reality isn’t the same, and if history’s a lesson, let’s take the Mathaf area trial as an example. This tunnel+roundabout/intersection model has been successfully implemented in that area all the way up to Tayyouneh. Anyone who passes through there knows what a life-saver these infrastructure solutions are.

But, remember how long it took? I think it was the better part of a decade… Will Jal El Dib’s new solution take that long? The cabinet only yesterday approved “consultation” on how best to go about accomplishing the above. If you ask me, I’d say there’s no way it’ll be done before 2014 (and that’s my best-case scenario!). Let’s hope the governments and whichever contractor they hire can prove me wrong, and with the Jal El Dib movement’s prodding and “encouragement”, perhaps you and I will get to use this bridge before our immigration paperwork comes to term =P