The Highway 66 expansion project is under the fief of Dima Pritsker, the manager of the northern district for Netivei Yisrael. "It's under execution by the Transport Ministry, for which Netivei Yisrael is the operational arm," he explains. "The project is in our 5-year plan." At this point they plan to begin the actual construction work in the third quarter of 2025, he adds.I have been following the excavation of the Legio VI Ferrata (6th Legion Ironclad) Roman camp near the site of Megiddo since it began in 2013. For the more recently discovered Megiddo Roman amphitheatre, see here and links. For more on the camp itself, start here and follow the links.The archaeologists, however, are horrified at the putative destruction of large swaths of the unmatched Roman camp, and the naturalists are no happier. The present road is no joy to behold, but in the parks authority's view, a four-lane, high-speed artery with drivers blaring their dissatisfaction at one another, right at the foot of the tell, would run counter to creating a park where nature, archaeology and religion meet, and where people could gather and experience the beauty of the landscape in quiet contemplation.
"But people keep getting killed there," sighs Dr. Kamil Sari, the archaeologist for the North (of Israel) with the IAA. Something had to be done.
The archaeologists hope the new finds will reopen the question of exactly what.
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