Excavation for Sector G-7 underpass starts

Traffic from Faisal Mosque diverted onto Service Road-West

ISLAMABAD: Excavators arrived on Faisal Avenue on Thursday and stared digging its eastern side as the civic authority of the federal capital started work on building the recently-approved underpass for Sector G-7 and G-8.

Meanwhile, traffic has been diversions have been set up.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had last year decided to finally build the long-mooted underpass on Faisal Avenue to connect Sector G-7 with the neighbouring Sector G-8 and ease the flow of traffic between these densely populated districts and key centres of the city. The project is estimated to cost Rs395 million to build, while the CDA has set a six-month deadline to complete the process.

To protect and maintain the green nature of the area, the CDA brought in a tree transplanting device to safely relocate fully grown pine cheer trees which line Faisal Avenue. The trees would have been destroyed during the construction work.

Apart from transplanting grown trees, around 100 pine cheer have been ben planted near the underpass so that once it is completed, it will not only ease the traffic flow on the avenue but the area would have regained its green character.

Traffic diversion

To ensure the smooth flow of traffic while work continues on the underpass, diversions have been set up in consultation with the Islamabad Traffic Police.

In line with instructions from the CDA management, a comprehensive traffic diversion plan for the vicinity was developed by the police and CDA’s Transport and Traffic Planning Directorate. For this purpose, senior officers of the Islamabad Traffic Police and officers of the concerned departments from CDA met at the site and finalized the diversion plan.

Proper traffic signs, diversion and warning boards were installed at different places in the sector. Moreover, instructions were also issued for properly cordoning of the construction area to avoid any untoward incident.

Construction of the underpass had been initially approved by CDA’s Departmental Working Party in 2014. Building underpasses in the city were part of its old master plan to link sectors together. In this regard, the CDA had managed to build underpasses on Seventh Avenue to link Sector G-6 with Sector G-7 and Sector F-6 with Sector F-7. A further two underpasses were planned to be built on Faisal Avenue but no progress was made on the project until last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2020.