Timely completion: Sixth Road Flyover open for traffic

The bridge has been completed in a record 100 days.

RAWALPINDI:

The city district government on Saturday opened the Sixth Road Flyover on Benazir Bhutto Road for traffic. However, the service roads have yet to be carpeted.

Completed at a cost of Rs1.042 billion in a record 100 days, the Sixth Road Flyover will ease traffic congestion and allow the service roads to be paved under the bridge, said Rawalpindi Commissioner Imdadullah Bosal.

The commissioner said the flyover would be formally inaugurated by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is expected to visit the garrison city next week.

The flyover was opened to ease traffic flow on Benazir Bhutto Road as commuters were facing problems during its construction, said the commissioner. It would also help the contractor to complete the service roads as early as possible, he added.

Bosal said the remaining work was expected to be completed in a month’s time. After completion of the project, the government will concentrate on widening of Marrir Chowk and Pirwadhai flyover.



Work on the 400-metre long bridge was started in September.

The decision was taken some five month after the completion of Chandni Chowk Flyover, which was inaugurated by the Punjab CM in March last year.

After the opening of the Chandni Chowk Flyover, the traffic situation worsened at Naz Cinema, Waris Khan and Taili Mohalla. The uninterrupted flow of traffic at Chandni Chowk led to congestion on the narrow road, which is why Sixth Road Flyover became necessary, said an official.

However, commuters said the new flyover would not help ease traffic congestion on the busy road as long as there were signals on intersections at 5th Road and at Double Road.

To facilitate the flow of traffic from Benazir Bhutto Road to Faizabad and further on to Islamabad, it is necessary to make 5th Road and Double Road intersections signal-free, said Rahat Ali, who frequently travels on this route.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 6^th, 2013.