Mega project to hit traffic flow

Heavy vehicles to be diverted from city’s prime access route

LAHORE:

The residents of the provincial capital are set for a period of compounded traffic woes as the government plans to launch the mega project of the construction of Shahdara flyover.

Shahdra and the Ravi Bridge is the spot from where the most number of vehicles enter and leave the city.

According to an estimate, over two million vehicles used the route daily for travelling to and from Lahore to the GT Road.

Most of the traffic from Sheikhupura and Faisalabad also uses the route to enter and leave the provincial capital.

According to the plan, it will take at least 10 months to complete the construction.

The traffic police have issued a plan of diversions and alternate routes to deal with the situation. The police wing also plans to launch an awareness campaign about the traffic scheme.

According to the plan, the traffic police will set up diversions at Begum Kot Chowk and Kala Shah Kaku for heavy traffic.

The traffic approaching from Sheikhupura and Faisalabad will be diverted to enter the city from Saggian Bridge.

Slow moving, heavy and commercial traffic from Kala Shah Kaku and Kala Khatai will use the Eastern Bypass and motorway.

As per an official of the traffic police, rickshaws, motorcycles and other small vehicles will keep on travelling according to the routine.

He said traffic wardens would be deputed round the clock and information about the traffic diversion would be dismayed on large boards and shared through the electronic, print and social media.

The chief traffic police officer conceded that maintaing flow of hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily during the work on the project would be a tedious job.

He added that as the work on the flyover would begin, an unusual traffic load would be observed at Shahdara Chowk, Ravi Bridge and Old Ravi Bridge.

He added that as the traffic would be diverted to Saggian Bridge, Lower Mall and Kutchery Chowk.

An extraordinary flow is also expected on these arteries.

A resident of the city commented while speaking to The Express Tribune that the traffic woes of the citizens of Lahore had worsened during more than the past decade amid mega projects launched one after the other, starting for Metro Bus to the Orange Line Metro Train.

The Metro Bus route was constructed on Lower Mall and Ferozpur Road and until it was made functional, thousands of commuters suffered daily for years.

The Orange Line Metro Train track was constructed on Multan Road, an important artery of Lahore. Again, a large number of commuters faced traffic problems for years.

Dozens of other major infrastructure projects were also implemented during the period.

A few months back, a project of the construction of Saggian Road was launched. It was just about to complete when the construction of Shahdara flyover is being launched.

The new project is being launched at a time when the construction work on re-designing of Kalma Chowk flyover is also under way at another busy spot in the metropolis.  

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2023.