Two underpasses on Shaheed-e-Millat Road to open for traffic soon

As the underpass at the Hill Park intersection is expected to be completed by December 15

KARACHI: The construction work on the underpass at the Tariq Road intersection on Shaheed-e-Millat Road has nearly been completed and it will open for traffic in a week. Meanwhile, the underpass at the Hill Park intersection will also be completed by December 15.

The two underpasses are part of a 10-kilometre signal-free corridor, stretching from Korangi Hino Chowrangi to Jail Chowrangi on University Road, which also includes the recently-built flyover at Tipu Sultan Road intersection.

According to the Deputy Project Director, Khalid Masroor, the Tariq Road underpass has been built at a cost of Rs574 million, while the Hill Park underpass cost Rs653 million. The price tag, said Masroor, included the cost of transferring utility lines as well as construction of serviced roads running parallel to the underpasses.

The project

Pakistan Peoples Party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is likely to inaugurate the Tariq Road underpass next week. The entire project, including the two underpasses and the flyover at Shaheed-e-Millat Road, was built by the Sindh government under the Karachi Project. The estimated cost of the project, at the time of its launch in fiscal year, 2017-2018, stood at a staggering Rs1.88 billion. The flyover was constructed at a cost of Rs660 million last year, after which the provincial government had initiated the construction of the Hill Park underpass in March this year. The underpass was meant to be constructed in eight months.



At around the same time, construction work on the Tariq Road underpass was initiated and the chief minister, Syed Murad Ali Shah, had directed to completion of the work within six months. The construction was, however, delayed by a month due to the monsoon rains, hence delaying its completion within the deadline.

Picture on the ground

At the Tariq Road underpass site, major construction work has been completed and the labourers are now adding final touches. The road has been carpeted and street lights too installed, while plants have also been placed, in line with the plantation campaign on green belts. A separate system for the discharge of rain water has also been built. The traffic signals on the Tariq Road intersection have been reinstalled.

A field engineer at the site told The Express Tribune that though the 10-km route stretching from Jail Chowrangi flyover to Korangi Hino Chowrangi has been made signal free, the traffic signal overhead the Tariq Road underpass has been installed to control the flow of traffic between Bahadurabad and Tariq Road.

Sigh of relief

Speaking to The Express Tribune, owners of superstores and several outlets located on Shaheed Millat Road and adjoining areas, expressed relief over the completion of the project as it had severely impacted their businesses. They complained that the project had resulted in traffic gridlock every day since it commenced, while the dust rising from the construction site also caused severe problems.

The Sindh government had provided an alternative route for traffic along the service road.

The narrow road had, however, resulted in traffic jam on a daily basis.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 2^nd, 2019.