Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the construction of a new flyover on Ferozepur Road at the Canal and Wahdat Road junctions and directed the Communications and Works Department to finish the structure by March 23 next year.
Before the chief minister’s arrival at the ceremony, C&W officials were telling reporters that the project would be finished by May 30 next year. But Sharif, who is famously demanding of public servants, announced in his speech a deadline of February 23.
The C&W secretary looked unhappy with the announcement, so much so that sympathetic journalists at this point volunteered the suggestion that the deadline be extended to March 23, or Republic Day, as this would be a fitting occasion for the opening. (The Kalma Chowk flyover was opened on August 14). The chief minister quickly acceded to the request. He sought assurances from Brigadier Shahid of the National Logistics Cell (NLC), the contractor for the project, that the flyover would be finished on time.
Sharif said that the infrastructure improvements the Punjab government was making would mean people waste less time stuck in their cars. He said the flyover would greatly ease congestion on Ferozepur Road, which he said was Lahore’s busiest road.
(Read: LDA budget - Underpass, bridge on Ferozepur Road planned)
The flyover will also boost the city’s development potential through estimated savings of Rs2.6 billion per year from improved fuel efficiency and less time wasting, he said. It would also help the environment as it would reduce the smoke and pollutants emitted by idling vehicles, he said.
Earlier, briefing the chief minister, C&W Secretary Azam Salman said the flyover would cost about Rs3.5 billion and have a total length of 2,587 metres, which includes the length of the bridges and ramp that will form the structure. The design speed of the flyover is 60 km per hour.
The two bridges of the flyover will have three lanes each while a two-lane ramp will lead from one bridge towards Wahdat Road. A 7-10 metre corridor will be left between the bridges for bus lanes for a future project. The flyover will have 60 spans, ramps of 145 metres on each side, 244 bridge piles of 1.2-metre diameter, and 57 bridge piers. Engineers will first build the bridge for traffic heading towards Ichhra from Kalma Chowk.
Salman admitted that traffic management would be a challenge as there was no viable alternative to the road. The intersection of Canal Bank Road and Wahdat Road with Ferozepur Road has a traffic volume of 427,262 vehicles per day, with 60 per cent of the traffic travelling along Ferozepur Road and the rest using the underpass, he said.
City Traffic Police Officer Ahmad Mobin said that sections of Ferozepur Road would remain open for traffic during construction. Traffic headed towards Ichhra would be diverted just after the Kalma Chowk flyover to Masood Farooqi Road towards the Canal, cross Wahdat Road and then enter Rehmanpura on Sultan Ahmed Road, which runs back to Ferozepur Road near Ichhra.
Traffic heading in the opposite direction could be diverted at Mozang, New Tollinton Market or Shama Chowk towards Jail Road, or from Shah Jamal Chowk towards the FC College underpass, Mobin said. He added that the inspector general of Punjab Police had agreed to provide extra men to the Traffic Police to implement the traffic plan.
Salman, the C&W secretary, told the chief minister that they had met with officials from the Water and Power Development Authority, Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited, Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited and Water and Sanitation Agency officials for the shifting of utility supply lines and structures.
Meanwhile, he said, city government officials had started clearing the alternate routes of encroachments after which they would repair the roads.
He said that the funds for the project would be provided by the city government and the Lahore Development Authority.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 21st, 2011.
COMMENTS (6)
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@Sharp eye: i think after ur comment the concern department should take emergency notice and resolve the Rehman Pura upcoming issues that directly related to Punjab Govt .we already see that kalma chowk fly over is completed but Drainage is not b proper and all the nearest urban areas like garden town is drowned highly after the low rain . Thanks
Perhaps the CM also needs to make sure that the byroads along these flyovers should be completed at the same time as these flyovers. Only providing one clear corridor is not good enough. The condition of such roads along Kalma Chowk is pathetic and so is the lane system!!!
We need a good mass transport system more than fly overs. There are many examples of big cities around the world that made bigger roads but did not solve the problem till they adopted a good transit system. However in short term (unfortunately like everything in Pakistan) it is not a bad plan.