Speaking to the press on Sunday, 9 Cheshvan 5774, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz stated the new interchange and entrance to Yerushalayim will be named in memory of the gadol hador, Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L.

The new entrance, which will serve Har Nof residents and others as part of Route 16. That project will get underway in 2014, and is expected to take a number of years until it is completed.

Route 16 will be a two lane and permit motorists to travel at a maximum speed of 80 KPH (48 MPH). The road will split at Motza Interchange and arrive at Beit Street between Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Begin Interchange. Most of the roadway’s 4.7 kilometers will be underground and it will include two tunnels, one leading to Har Nof and the second under Yifei Nof and the JNF forest and Har Nof. Between the two tunnels there will be a bridge over Nachal Revida.

In Netanya, Mayor Miriam Fierberg appears will be the first to officially name a street after the gadol hador. The city plans to change the name of Petach Tikvah Street to Rav Ovadia Yosef Street. It is a major street in that city.

Rabbi Shimon Shmueli, who heads the Igud HaRabbonim in Bat Yam, announced shortly after the gadol hador’s petira that he wishes to change the name of his neighborhood from Amidar to Kiryat Chazon Ovadia. Rav Shmueli is also the mora d’asra of the shul in the Amidar neighborhood.

Rav Shmueli adds that the Amidar community was always important to Maran, and years ago, the rav gave a weekly shiur in Beis Knesses Rav Meir Bal Haness in that community. The rav feels changing the name of the community would represent closure, and he plans to address the idea with city officials following the 18 Cheshvan municipal elections.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)