ERUSALEM, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Worshipers and tourists at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, Judaism's holiest site, will soon have a new way of approaching the Lord above: an elevator.
The elevator is to be built between the Old City's Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall plaza, a topographic drop of over 20 meters.
It will allow the disabled and elderly to more easily make the descent from the quarter's ancient squares and lanes to the open square facing the even older, Herodian-era massive stone blocks that make up the retaining wall of the Temple Mount.
Currently, the plaza area is only accessible by several long staircases after walking down the Old City's sometimes slippery cobble-stoned alleyways, or via a service road from outside the Old City walls.
"The idea of connecting between the Jewish Quarter and the Western Wall and Temple Mount area is actually a very old idea going back some 2,000 years," Project Manager Daniel Shukron told Xinhua.
"Then, they used a series of knotted ropes," Shukron said of the ancient method that was used to enable people to get from one area to the other.
The dual-car elevator will descend from Misgav Ladach street in the Jewish Quarter to the level of the plaza. From there, a 50- meter horizontal underground passage will connect the elevator to the police security check at the plaza entrance, Shukron said.
Each car will be able to hold 40 to 50 riders, according to Shukron, and a spacious lobby and restroom facilities are planned as part of the project.
The 10-million-U.S.-dollar project has already been approved at the local subcommittee level, and is now on file at the District Planning Committee for approval and construction, according to Shukron.
He estimated that the project will take 10 to 18 months, barring technical or political complications.
The project joins a 23-million-dollar series of government- sponsored projects to renovate the area, which will improve "the fundamental and functional condition of the area surrounding the Western Wall, so as to provide visitors with suitable conditions," reported local Ha'aretz newspaper.
