Overshadowed by MBS: Work on Ferozepur Road takes back seat

Business owners fear congestion and parking issues at Lytton Road, Ichhra.

LAHORE:

While the construction of bus stations and landscaping on the Metro Bus Service route are underway at a frantic pace in preparation for the launch of the landmark public transport project on February 10, businesses have expressed concern at budding congestion and parking issues on Ferozepur Road beneath the elevated bus lane.

Though most of Ferozepur Road has been carpeted, there are no markings for road lanes or parking lanes, and no cat’s eyes. Manholes have not been raised to the level of the carpeted road, forming potholes all along the road. At some places near Qurtaba Chowk, electricity poles are actually located a few feet inside the road.

Several provincial and city government departments are currently engaged in preparations for the inauguration of the MBS, with the only visible work on Ferozepur Road being done by Parks and Horticulture Authority workers on the green belt in the median.

For businesses located at Ichhra and Lytton Road, congestion caused by parking is a major concern. Lytton Road, already relatively narrower than Ferozepur Road, now has a bigger median. Currently, vehicles are parking on both the left and right sides of the road, leaving little space for traffic.

“There were traffic issues here before and now there will be major jams all the time,” said Muhammad Azmat, who runs a spare parts shop for motorcycles at Lytton Road. He said that mechanics were working on motorbikes and rickshaws parked on both sides of the road.

Usman Ahmad, a cloth trader at Ichhra, said that since the abolition of the service lane, it was unclear where cars and motorbikes were supposed to park. “If they leave it like this, it will be a big mess,” he said. “The construction workers just laid tarmac wherever they found space.”

He said that many traders had suffered losses during the recent road projects, first in the number of days of business lost, and second in being forced to accept a low rate of remuneration for land acquired for the projects.

Business owners fear that the necessary lane marking will be delayed indefinitely, as it has been on Wahdat Road, which is still without them many months after the completion of the Muslim Town flyovers. Wahdat Road is also still littered with potholes formed around manholes.

Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (Tepa) Chief Engineer Muhammad Saeed Akhtar said that the necessary lane markings and other road works would be completed “soon”. Asked if it would be completed by February 10, he said that it would take longer than that but they would try to finish it “as quickly as possible”.

He said that traffic issues would persist at Lytton Road, Ichhra and at the Canal intersection on Ferozepur Road during the construction of pedestrian underpasses, which is currently underway.

He said parking issues were a matter to be dealt with by the traffic police, but no parking would be allowed on the right side of Ferozepur Road under the bridge. He said that the traders must follow parking laws and encourage their customers to do the same to avoid traffic jams.

Chief Traffic Officer Captain (retired) Sohail Chaudhry said that the situation would improve once work on the road was completed.

“The road is at a basic stage yet. Once it takes final shape things will get better,” he said.

He said that workers were yet to lay a wearing course over the road, following which they would paint lane markings and parking lanes and lay cat’s eyes. He did not specify Lytton Road, but said that no parking would be allowed anywhere on congested roads. He said there was plenty of space at Ichhra so there would be no congestion there.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 5^th, 2013.