LAHORE: The caretaker chief minister laid the foundation stone of the civil work of the Rs3.10 billion Akbar Chowk flyover-cum-underpass project here on Tuesday.

“Complete this project in three months instead of four,” CM Mohsin Naqvi directed Lahore Development Authority (LDA) officers on the occasion.

“I’m a resident of Lahore, and I’ll not tolerate delay in the project,” he warned.

The project, spanning over 700 metres for the flyover and 540 metres for the underpass, is designed to accommodate two-lane traffic, serving the needs of commuters from Faisal Town, Johar Town, Kot Lakhpat and other localities, according to LDA Director-General Aamir Ahmad Khan.

According to an official document, the number of beneficiary vehicles is estimated at around 105,000 per day. The project will have a two-lane underpass at Akbar Chowk on Maulana Shaukat Ali Road (while coming from Karim Block intersection-Iqbal Town) to the canal and then Jinnah Hospital to Qainchi (Kot Lakhpat, Ferozepur Road) via Akbar Chowk, Model Town Link Morr and the Pindi Stop. On the other side, while coming from Kot Lakhpat and Model Town Link Road and heading towards Jinnah Hospital, the intersection will have a two-lane flyover.

The flyover will start before the intersection. Before reaching the intersection, it will begin to take a slight curve to the right, cross the underpass, go some straight, and then take another curve to the left to return to its original alignment and route.

“This design was adopted to avoid land acquisition,” said an official source.

The traffic crossing the intersection from College Road or Faisal Town will also have signal-free access on both sides. “Since this is part of the Maulana Shaukat Ali Road signal-free corridor scheme, the civil work on this will be launched by next week,” he added.

In June 2021, the then Punjab government, headed by Usman Buzdar, approved a proposal seeking Rs7 billion project for the Maulana Shaukat Ali Road signal-free corridor, connecting the Lahore Orange Line Metro Train (Multan Road) with the Metro Bus (Green Line) on Ferozepur Road (Qainchi stop). The project will reduce travel time to 15 to 20 minutes from the current 45 to 60 minutes from Kharak (Multan Road) to Qainchi via Shaukat Ali Road.

Maulana Shaukat Ali Road starts from Kharak Stop (Multan Road) near Sabzazar Orange Line station, leaves Allama Iqbal Town at Karim Block signal by crossing Wahdat Road and then Canal Road. It goes straight toward the Jinnah Hospital and finally connects with Ferozepur Road (Qainchi Stop) via Shauq Chowk, Akbar Chowk, Model Town Link intersection, Pindi Stop, and Kot Lakhpat. The road connects various areas, such as Allama Iqbal Town, Punjab University, Faisal Town, Johar Town, BOR Society, Township, Govt Employees Cooperative Housing Society (GECHS), Green Town and Model Town with the Ferozepur Road. It has various traffic congestion points due to traffic signals at Karim Block, Jinnah Hospital, BOR Society, Shauq Chowk, Akbar Chowk, Model Town Link Mor, etc. During peak hours, motorists used to get stuck in traffic for hours, which also caused environmental pollution, energy waste, money waste, and other issues.

Since the project has a variety of interventions at various spots, including the construction of underpasses, flyovers, protected U-turns, pedestrian bridges, elevated paths/passages for motorcyclists and footpaths for pedestrians, the Usman Buzdar government in July 2021 also planned another proposal seeking extension and connection of the road with the Babu Sabu Interchange to provide a hassle-free drive to motorists (entering the corridor from Qainchi stop on Ferozepur Road) to access the motorway and vice-versa.

According to sources, the proposal was also worked out since it was very important given a considerable reduction in travel time for the motorists seeking access to the motorway from Qainchi (Ferozepur Road) via Maulana Shaukat Ali Road. For the extension of this project, two routes were studied: one, from Kharak Stop to Sabzazar Orange Line Station on Multan Road along the Kharak drain to the motorway’s Babu Sabu interchange via Kot Kamboh, two, to go along the drain, take a right turn (after about 500 meters) to Sabzazar Scheme, take a left at Liaqat Chowk and take a left to access the motorway via Babu Sabu interchange. The proposal has yet to be accepted.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2023