Israel's High Court has given Israeli officials until April 22 to explain a series of issues related to Jerusalem's controversial aerial cable car project. In the meantime, all work on the project has been suspended.

The Feb. 24 ruling dealt a hard blow to the Jerusalem municipality, the Jerusalem Development Authority and the Tourism Ministry, which have all invested a great amount of effort and time on the project, which is expected to cost around 200 million to 220 million shekels ($60 million to $66 million).

The proposed gondola system would stretch over 1.5 kilometers (nearly a mile) from western Jerusalem to the walls of the historic Old City in what is called an effort to help relieve traffic congestion and increase accessibility to the area of the Holy Basin. The municipality said the system would transport 3,000 passengers per hour in each direction, using 73 carriages, with three stops.

Over the past three years, the court has convened several times to examine petitions against the project. In their Feb. 24 ruling, the justices asked the State of Israel to explain why the project was discussed and approved through a special procedure at Israel’s National Infrastructure Committee, unlike other urban projects that went through Jerusalem’s District and Planning Committee. Had the project been brought to Jerusalem committee, citizens would have been invited to offer their opinions and submit their reservations and objections.