Chief Minister (CM) Shahbaz Sharif’s deadline of March 22nd for the Communication and Works (C&W) Department to complete the Muslim Town Flyover will not be met. The CM might be able to inaugurate only one bridge of the flyover on March 23rd as work on the second bridge and its additional ramp is still continuing.
Work on the Muslim Town Flyover began on September 20, 2011 and was originally scheduled to be completed on May 30, 2012.
Sharif, however, changed the deadline and told the C&W Department and the National Logistics Cell to complete the flyover by March 20, so he could inaugurate it on March 23rd, on the eve of Pakistan Day (the Kalma Chowk flyover was inaugurated on last independence day).
C&W Department secretary Azam Suleman had told Sharif that the complexity and size of the flyover project made the deadline unrealistic but the CM did not budge from his demand.
“We are trying to open Bridge 1 (heading from Ichhra towards Gaddafi Stadium) for traffic by March 23rd,” said Sabir Khan, the project director. He did not have a completion date for Bridge 2 (from Gadaffi Stadium to Ichhra). “We missed the deadline but are close to completing the work. This project is 2.5 times larger than the Kalma Chowk one,” he said. He added that the CM was satisfied with the speed and quality of work.
The project director said the Muslim Town flyover was also more complex than Kalma Chowk flyover in its design and on account of an additional ramp leading to Wahdat Road (from Bridge 2).
The estimated cost of the project was Rs3.5 billion. Khan said they had not added up the costs as yet but he was sure that work would be completed within the approved budget.
The recommended speed of vehicles on the flyover is 60 km/hour. The total length of the flyover is 2,587 metres (m). Bridge 1 is 963m in length, Bridge 2 is 1,324m long and the ramp leading to Wahdat Road is 301m. Both bridges are three lanes, the Wahdat Road ramp, however, is two-lanes. A seven to 10m special corridor has been left between the flyovers for the upcoming Bus Rapid Transportation System (BRTS).
The number of spans used for the flyovers is 60. The length of the ramp on each side is 145m.
The width of the bridges is 11m each while the Wahdat Road ramp is 8m wide, 244 piles of 1.2m diametre have been used for foundation. There are 57 piers in the entire flyover.
Khan said he was not sure if the CM would inaugurate the flyover on the 23rd.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 22nd, 2012.
COMMENTS (7)
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flyovers should be constructed on canal bridge on jail road, New campus Road and mall road and shadman chowk
a flyover at shadman chowk and canal crossing at jail road may also be built for smooth flow of traffic
Even if the bridges are late, I am sure that they will be built because Shahbaz Sharif has a good track record for getting things done. Most people in Punjab support PML - N because the party can boast of real achievements. All of Pakistan's military and political leaders are corrupt except maybe Imran Khan but no one can deny that at least Shahbaz Sharif has done a lot of work in Punjab province and uplifted the whole province. That's why the other provinces are so jealous of the development in Punjab.
@Amjad: PML-n support in Lahore is different than support in Punjab. Even support in modern Lahore is different than support in old/inner parts of Lahore.
@AllahRukha: You haven't been to Lahore recently - not only have the new roads and overpasses relieved congestion but the Ring Road about Lahore is a marvel. I made it to the airport from the Motorway exist in under 1/2 hour when it used to take over 1 1/2 hours crawling along from Shadara. Despite the delay, I am sure the bridges over Muslim Town will also help greatly in improving Lahore more. I can understand why Shahbaz Sharif enjoys so much support in Punjab because of the public works and progress there.
Now Shabaz Sharif will give another deadline. Allama Iqbal road is under construction from last one year but half of work is not yet completed.
The interest of general public on Public Works and development is almost non-existent. Put ISI, America or India here and you will see a war of words.