Kalma Chowk: Flyover will open on time, say officials

Construction of footpaths, decoration works yet to begin.

LAHORE:

The Kalma Chowk flyover is underway and the bridge is set to be opened for traffic on August 14, though the construction of footpaths and installation of decorative tiles and other small works have yet to begin.

Talking to The Express Tribune, project director Sabir Khan said the inauguration would take place on the scheduled date.

He said some minor works including the shifting of electricity poles from the site would be undertaken after the inauguration. “We can’t move the electricity poles at the moment. It will cause severe traffic jams on the service lanes,” he said.

Khan said the carpeting of the roads would be complete in another day, after which they would begin painting lane markings.

The flyover is yet to be connected to Ferozepur Road. Khan said work was underway on one of the approaches, on the Gaddafi stadium side, and the remaining three would also be connected to the road before August 14.

Khan said work on underpass would begin immediately after the flyover is inaugurated.

A structure would be installed at the site to mark the inauguration of the flyover.

A 10-feet-wide space on Ferozepur Road in between the two sides of the flyover has been set aside for the Lahore Rapid Mass Transport System. Khan said minor repairs would be undertaken to beautify the space, though proper renovation would be carried out later and was not the responsibility of Kalma Chowk flyover project team.

The service lanes, he said, would be revamped after the construction of the underpass.

A National Logistic Cell (NLC) engineer said some decoration work would be completed after the August 14 deadline.

“We have been directed to ensure that nothing in the basic structure is left incomplete as of August 14. The flyover has to be opened for traffic for the project to be considered a success,” he said.



Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2011.