Avenue David Ben Gourion

Opened in the 1960s, Avenue David Ben Gourion stretches from an interchange with the highway exiting Ecully to the Carrefour de l’Europe. At the edge of Champagne au Mont d’Or, it meets Avenue d’Ecully. The avenue then continues into Champagne au Mont d’Or as Rue Louis Juttet, all the while serving as a section of departmental road D42. Avenue David Ben Gourion isn’t just a road. It’s a gateway to various points. A pedestrian walkway descends alongside a ramp, connecting to Chemin du Fort in Ecully. A bridge over the highway provides access to the Rond Point du Pérolier. Bus stops along the avenue offer connections to the La Sauvegarde neighborhood via pedestrian walkways. Avenue David Ben Gourion’s architecture tells its own story. The initial section is dominated by a four-lane highway split by a central reservation. Primarily designed for vehicles, only the Clinique de la Sauvegarde and the office building at number 469 directly front the avenue. In 2018, the extension of Avenue Rosa Parks to Avenue David Ben Gourion brought a striking concrete building to the southern corner. On the west side, the clinic’s buildings stand at an angle. A small glass cube, a concrete block, and a three-part structure face number 469. A single-story building with a projecting roofline and the diagonally approaching Rue Donjon complete the scene. A large paved area belonging to a stadium sits on a mound before Avenue de la Sauvegarde, west of the main road. A closer look at the church’s cross reveals a subtle depiction of the Virgin and Child. The final section of Avenue David Ben Gourion gently inclines between fences. To the west are the rear facades of small buildings on Rue Juttet, some still under development. To the east stands the long block of Rue Beer Sheva. This avenue bears the name of David Ben-Gurion. Born David Grün in Plonsk, Poland, in 1886, he passed away in 1973 and was laid to rest in a Negev kibbutz. Renowned as a statesman, Ben-Gurion was a founder of the Israeli Labor Party and a lifelong advocate for Zionism, culminating in Israel’s independence in 1948. He then served as Israel’s first prime minister until 1963. Interestingly, there’s no apparent direct connection between Ben-Gurion and Lyon. Today, the avenue is home to the Clinique de la Sauvegarde and a medical laboratory, an office building, and the Sauvegarde parking lot.