After ‘flyovers’, long wait starts anew

Islamabad : After the completion of the G-7/G-8 underpass on the Islamabad Expressway, which further eased the flow of traffic on the main artery of federal capital, now the Capital Development Authority (CDA) had finally started work on the last, or probably, the second last leg of completing the ‘Five-lane, signal free Islamabad Expressway’ from T-Chowk on G.T Road up to Khayaban-e-Iqbal (Margalla Road) at Faisal Mosque intersection.

The Capital Development Authority recently started work on widening of the existing two-lane a side bridge on ‘Korang nullah’ as well the ‘PWD Underpass’, besides widening of the road up to ‘Naval Anchorage’ on the Islamabad Expressway.

The Project Director Engineer Mumtaz Hussain said that while the work will be slow and might take 18 to 20 months to complete the ‘Korang nullah’ bridge widening because of its depth, the ‘PWD Underpass’ might be completed by end of June or July this year.

“The earth work on the PWD Underpass is expected to be completed within a weeks’ time after which work on ramps will start on both sides of the underpass. These have to be completed first to divert up and down traffic,” Engr. Mumtaz Hussain told ‘The News’. “It is expected to create some traffic movement problems indeed, especially because of the big volume of heavy traffic operating on this highway.

“We have another option that is to divert the traffic on the existing one-way road just short of the railway bridge, passing in front of the ‘Haveli Marque’ skirting Madina Town and Jinnah Garden, which will emerge on the main Islamabad Expressway in front of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) Petrol.

“We have plans to divert traffic on that road temporarily as well but we need permission from these two societies. If they agreed, it would ease work pressure on us and we would be able to complete the Pakistan Public Works Department (PWD) underpass much more speedily and without much hindrance,” the CDA’s Project Director said. “If that did not materialised, then we will divert all traffic on the loops being constructed for Pakistan Public Works Department underpass and then work on the main underpass on the main road will start,” the Project Director said.

He said that there would be another hassle we expect to confront and that would be widening of the ‘Railway Bridge’. “We are hoping that Pakistan Railway will cooperate with us on this matter,” he added.

He said that besides construction of new bridge on Korang nullah and the Pakistan Public Works Department Underpass, the road on both sides will also be widened to 5-lane a side up to Naval Anchorage.

“Again this will be somewhat tedious task because the main SNGPL supply line is passing alongside the road as well as the WAPDA transmission lines. But we hope we will be able to sort out the issues with both SNGPL and WAPDA for shifting their lines,” Engineer Mumtaz Hussain said.

He said that once the Pakistan Public Works Department Underpass will be ready, a big volume of small traffic will smoothly exit from the main Islamabad Expressway, which will lead to easing pressure on the road ahead up to T-Chowk on G.T. Road as well.