Soan Bridge undergoes survey for remodelling
The road near Soan Bridge is closed due to landsliding as a result of heavy rainfall near GT Road, Rawalpindi. PHOTO: AGHA MAHROZ/EXPRESS/FILE
At least five different entities including the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), the military engineering organisation of the army, and the National Highway Authority (NHA) are participating in a survey as part of a plan to remodel the Soan bridge in Rawalpindi, it emerged Tuesday.
According to a senior officer of the district administration, speaking on the condition of anonymity, the Rawalpindi commissioner raised the issue with the Punjab government.
According to the source, Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha pointed out the ‘rampant construction, water leakage, and landslides’ on the bank of the Soan River had resulted in a series of problems including an instance in which a part of the bridge collapsed.
He pointed out that construction work had been on-going for almost a year which had affected a large part of the bridge, the source added.
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They said that the commissioner pointed out that the repair and reconstruction work was created traffic bottlenecks at a location with was used by hundreds of thousands of vehicles daily.
This results in logjams and spillover on the GT Road and near the Kutcherry Chowk where the Rawalpindi Bench of the Lahore High Court is located.
It has also impacted commercial activities in the area due to traffic congestion on alternate highways, the source quoted the commissioner as saying. He suggested contacting the federal government to find a solution, the source continued.
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The officer said the bridge on the Soan River was an important artery, which needed free-flowing traffic.
The district administration has already remodelled Defense Chowk with the result that the road connecting GT Road Lahore to Rawalpindi has been made signal-free from Defense Chowk, they said.
Meanwhile, the traffic going from Rawalpindi to Lahore has been given the option of right turn before the Soan bridge, which has improved the traffic flow to a great extent, he continued.
“Traffic coming from both sides of the GT Road can proceed without any hindrance.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 9th, 2023.