LAHORE : The chief minister so far has not given approval to a much-hyped project envisaged by Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to remodel Maulana Shaukat Ali Road as a signal-free corridor at an estimated cost of Rs 7 billion.
The project was designed by the LDA Engineering Wing to control the flow of traffic on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road, one of the main arteries of the City. According to the project, the road should be converted into a signal free corridor.
In June 2021, the LDA director general had given complete briefing of the mega project of 15 kilometre road to Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar but so far the project has not been given approval.
According to the plan, the main purpose of the project was to connect two main arteries of the City i.e. Multan Road and Ferozepur Road by converting Maulana Shaukat Ali Road into a signal-free corridor.
The remodeling will start from Kharak Stop on Multan Road and would come to the roundabout of Karim Block Market. From there the road will turn towards Punjab University and an underpass or a flyover would be constructed at Karim Block Market’s signal at Wahdat Road junction. At Jinnah Hospital, a single side underpass or a flyover will be constructed and then a single side underpass will be constructed at Shauq Chowk. According to the plan, a double flyover would be constructed at Akbar Chowk and then a single side underpass will be constructed at Model Town Link Road crossing. Six twin U-turns will also be made on the road to make it signal free. The project didn’t need any land acquisition and the LDA will also construct footpaths along the road. Moreover, 14 overhead pedestrian bridges will also be constructed on the road out of which half will have ramps so that cyclists and motorcyclists can cross the road.
A senior LDA official said remodeling of this important segment would reduce travel time from one and a half hours to 10 to 15 minutes only. This will also reduce the fuel cost for motorists besides improving the traffic flow on this segment of the road, he claimed. When contacted, LDA DG Ahmed Aziz Tarar said that he had no intimation whether the Punjab government had shelved the project. On the other hand, LDA Chief Engineer Mazhar Khan, who was the mastermind of this mega project, said that the government might approve the project in the coming days. He, however, admitted that so far the government had not given any approval to this project and deliberations were underway with different departments.