Initial groundwork for construction of three major underpasses on Peshawar Road has commenced with completion of pile load testing marking the first phase of the project. The underpasses will be built at Race Course Park Army Graveyard and Chairing Cross to ease chronic traffic congestion on one of Rawalpindi’s busiest arteries.
Punjab Highway Department Executive Engineer Rana Qamar Saqib said formal construction work will begin next month. He added that Section Four has been imposed from Race Course Park to Chairing Cross to restrict sale and purchase of land and facilitate land acquisition which will start shortly.
He said the shifting of high voltage electricity transmission pylons located in the middle of Peshawar Road will begin soon and is expected to be completed by January fifteen. The contractor has already established a field office at Race Course Park and scrutiny of demands submitted by utility service providers is under way.
Officials said Lesco Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Pakistan Telecommunication Company and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board have submitted cost estimates for relocation of their infrastructure. Funds will be released after verification of these demands. The Frontier Works Organisation has been awarded the project on a government to government basis and will receive work orders in December.
The underpasses are part of the Punjab government’s Rs30 billion signal free corridor project. More than two hundred fifty thousand vehicles use this stretch of Peshawar Road daily and traffic congestion at these intersections remains a major problem. The three underpasses are expected to allow uninterrupted traffic flow through these high pressure junctions.
Officials said over Rs14 billion is being spent on the Kutchery Chowk remodelling while Rs8 billion has been allocated for the three underpasses. Another Rs6 billion has already been spent on the GPO Chowk underpasses. After completion travel time from district courts to Motorway Chowk is expected to reduce to fifteen to twenty minutes enabling smoother traffic flow and future operation of electric buses.
