New underpass planned to ease traffic

It will ensure signal-free traffic flow from Murree, Kashmir to Srinagar Highway

ISLAMABAD:

While Rs8 billion worth of two mega interchanges are in the process of construction in the federal capital, the district administration has decided to construct an additional underpass at the Murree Road-Srinagar Highway junction to ease traffic.

Once completed, this underpass will ensure signal-free traffic flow from Murree and Kashmir to Srinagar Highway. On the other hand, the 60-day deadline for the completion of the under-construction Serena Interchange passed on January 5, but work on the project is still ongoing.

However, the underpass connecting Khayaban-e-Suharwardi towards Aabpara has been completed and is set to open for traffic on January 11. The second ongoing project, the F-8 Interchange, was scheduled to be completed in three months by February 5, with one of its underpasses already operational within a record 42 days.

A senior officer at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) told The Express Tribune that the foundation stone of the two mega under-construction interchanges, costing Rs8b, was laid by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on November 5. However, due to a week-long delay in providing construction designs, work began on November 12 as a result the Serena Interchange project, originally planned for completion by January 5, is still in its final stages, he added.

One of its underpasses, which was constructed on the side of Khayaban-e-Suharwardi, was decided to be opened on January 8 initially, but Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi instructed the CDA chairman to open the slip roads for traffic along with the constructed underpasses and no inauguration ceremony be held rather the entire construction work of the interchange will be inaugurated at once by the premier, the official further said.

According to the CDA official, two under-construction underpasses on the Islamabad Club side will also be completed by January 20, while full efforts are being made to complete the 100% project by the last week of this month.

On the other hand, CDA Chairman Muhammad Ali Randhawa, along with Member Engineering and other senior officers, visited Murree Road on Thursday. On this occasion, keeping in mind the traffic problems, the proposal to construct an underpass at the Srinagar Highway Junction on Murree Road was considered.

Randhawa said that the construction of the underpass would provide convenience to the citizens coming to Islamabad from Murree and Kashmir, directing that the underpass at the Srinagar Highway Junction on Murree Road be connected to the Serena Interchange project.

The chairman was informed in the briefing that the work on soil test has been started for the construction of the underpass at the Srinagar Highway Junction on Murree Road. He was further informed that the work of designing and planning including feasibility has also been initiated for the construction of the underpass at the Srinagar Highway Junction on Murree Road.

The CDA chief said that the construction of the underpass would solve the long-standing traffic problems in Islamabad on a permanent basis, directing that the design of the underpass at the Srinagar Highway Junction on Murree Road be submitted soon.

After the construction of the underpass, the entire traffic coming from Murree to the Srinagar Highway would become signal-free, he added.