Signal-free corridors project suffers disagreement

LAHORE
THE public hearing for seven-kilometer long Signal Free Corridors from Qurtaba Chowk to Liberty Roundabout turned into a heated debate between local traders and residents and civil society representatives as both had different viewpoints.
The public hearing was organized by Environmental Protection Department, Punjab at Punjabi Complex, Qaddafi Stadium, Monday in which senior officials of LDA, TEPA and EPD, representatives of traders associations of Jail Road, Siddique Trade Center, Gulberg Main Boulevard and representatives of civil society organizations such as Lahore Bachao Tehrik, Park Bachao Tehrik and Lahore Conservation Society took part.
LDA officials briefed participants about project and said the signal free corridor will start at Qartaba Chowk and end at Liberty roundabout. Two underpasses and seven signal free U-turns will be constructed under this project.
The first underpass will be constructed at Shadman Chowk for traffic coming from China Chowk and going to Shadman market.
There will be uninterrupted traffic flow coming from The Mall to Shadman and vice versa as a result of construction of this underpass. It will enable uninterrupted signal free traffic flow along the Jail Road. The second underpass will be constructed near Sherpao Bridge for traffic going towards Canal bridge.
They said due to construction of underpass at Fawara Chowk crossing, there will be uninterrupted flow of traffic on Jail Road and Main Boulevard, Gulberg, and vice versa. seven signal free U-turns will be constructed at Eden Centre Chowk, Shadman Chowk, PIC Chowk, Canal Road, Zafar Ali Road, Fawara Chowk, Main Market Chowk and Zahoor Elahi Chowk crossings.
LDA officials said the signal free corridor will be located in the hub of the city accommodating best educational, health facilitation centres and business hub areas and main objective of construction of this signal-free corridor is to facilitate commuters so that they may get rid of long queues and traffic jams at abovementioned junctions/crossings.
They said after completion of this signal-free corridor, traffic congestions in front of educational institutions like Lahore College for Women University, Kinnaird College and APWA College and hospitals will end. Remodeling of Liberty Roundabout will also help to avoid merging conflicts.
The LDA officials said signal free corridors will save time and provide easy access for patients and ambulances to the Punjab Institute of Cardiology and Services Hospital. Also there will be significant time and fuel saving of the general public due to signal free corridor. Construction of four pedestrian bridges will also be constructed at a cost of Rs 60 million along this route, they added.
Objecting to the project, Imrana Tiwana, General Secretary LBT, said the government should stop construction of this project and spend this money on completion of Ring Road project as well as construction of wider footpaths for pedestrians and extra lanes for motorcyclists and cyclists. She said the government should also improve public transport system, instead of providing more opportunities to citizens to buy vehicles. This will increase pollution in the city, she added.
Raza Ali Dada, Kamil Mumtaz, Faryal Gohar and other representatives of civil society organizations also raised objections to the project such as construction of signal free corridor will stop access to 5th biggest Christian cemetery which has high historical and cultural significance as it contains graves of some famous pre- and post-partition personalities including Dr AC Woolner, VC Punjab University (1928-1936), and AR Cornelius, former chief justice of Pakistan. They also submitted written objections to Director General EPA.
On the other hand, traders community of Jail Road, Gulberg and other nearby markets rejected the objections by civil society and urged the LDA and EPD to approve the project and its construction because this will change the entire area and increase customer inflow. They said traffic congestion is the biggest problem of this road and the project will resolve this issue.
Naseemur Rehman, Director EIA, EPD Punjab, while talking with The News, said the department will forward all objections to LDA and once LDA’s answers are received the case will be sent to the special committee for final decision.