The flyover’s construction, which the firm said will finish in June at a cost of Rs670.46 million, has been causing massive traffic jams at GT Road, a major highway. The project’s groundbreaking ceremony took place on June 22 last year and an 18-month time frame was given to complete construction.
“The firm has informed the government and traffic police that 80% of the flyover’s construction has been completed,” SP Traffic Najeedur Rehman Baghvi told The Express Tribune.
The flyover has three lanes. It is 1.06 kilometres long and 13.75 metres wide, with a 250-metre-long ramp for Gulbahar traffic. The width of the ramp is 5.80 metres.
According to a survey conducted by Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) in 2009, the flow of traffic at Gulbahar Chowk was estimated at 93,476 vehicles in 24 hours.
Baghvi said that the traffic police has begun preparing for the flyover’s launch as it will definitely increase the flow of traffic at GT Road.
“Squares have been eliminated near Balahisar Fort to ensure a smooth flow of traffic but the business community is opposing it for vested interests,” he said.
However, the worries of commuters are far from over as the Mufti Mehmood Flyover is still under construction and will take another two years to complete.
According to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Excise Department, 706,590 vehicles are registered in the province and about 50% of these are in Peshawar. The actual number of vehicles in the city is estimated to be even higher than that as most people in the district prefer to register their vehicles in Islamabad.
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