Development: Signal-Free Corridor is 25 per cent complete

Cost has escalated because of month-long delay

LAHORE: The cost of building the Signal Free Corridor has increased because of the delay following Lahore High Court’s order against the project, a senior official of the Lahore Development Authority told The Express Tribune.

The project cost was originally estimated at Rs1.26 billion. “The cost will definitely escalate because the project was suspended for almost a month.” He said they did not have exact figures but were waiting for the contractor for the project to submit the escalation estimate by the end of this month. The project is expected to be completed by October 30, he said. “Almost 25 per cent of the construction work on it is complete.”



The official said once complete, the corridor, stretching from Qurtaba Chowk to the Liberty Roundabout, shall reduce road occupancy time and will double traffic capacity of Jail Road and the Main Boulevard, Gulberg. Traffic problems during peak hours, mostly because of schools on Jail Road and Gulberg’s Main Boulevard, will diminish to a great extent, he said.

On the environmental impact of the project, the official said though 196 trees have been chopped off for construction of the elevated road, the government will plant 1,300 trees in various parts of the city to make up for it. “The green area in the city will be increased by 30 kanals.” Moreover, he said, there will be a significant drop in carbon emissions because of the decrease in road occupancy time.

Work on the Jail Road-Gulberg Signal-Free Corridor began on March 1 but on April 17 the LHC, hearing a petition by the Lahore Bachao Tehreek, declared the project illegal. The LDA, later, approached the Supreme Court of Pakistan which set aside the LHC’s ruling.

The previous deadline for the project was June 30, but now the Habib Construction Services (HCS), LDA, and its subsidiary the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) are trying to meet the new deadline of October 30, he said.

The length of the project is 7.6 kilometres. It includes two underpasses at Shadman Chowk and Fawara No 1 Chowk T-Junction, near Siddique Trade Centre. Seven traffic signals on Jail Road and Main Boulevard, Gulberg, will be removed. The signal-free corridor project includes the re-modelling of Main Boulevard, Gulberg, and the reconstruction of Jail Road from Sherpao Bridge to Qurtaba Chowk.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 10^th, 2015.