January 03, 2008	Thursday	Zilhaj 23, 1428

ISLAMABAD, Jan 2: Pedestrians who traditionally come last in every consideration are figuring in now among fresh worries of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) after billions of rupees have been spent on the construction of new roads for motorists.

It has been realised that pedestrians too need corridors to go across the wide stretches of fast traffic on the newly built expressways.

Millions more will now be spent to remove this flaw by building nine overhead bridges.

The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by CDA chairman Kamran Lashari here Wednesday.

Traffic engineers working with other departments have termed the absence of proper walkways for pedestrians going across the new roads as a major ‘flaw’ in the current road construction projects.

Pedestrians desperately need such passage on the 7th Avenue, a newly constructed road which bisects different residential sectors but has no safe passages for pedestrians to go across the Avenue.

According to the plan, four overhead bridges would be constructed on four different points on both sides of the 7th Avenue and 9th Avenue to facilitate residents of the sectors on both sides to cross the road.

An overhead bridge would also be constructed in front of the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) headquarter at Peshawar mor for citizens visiting the newly constructed weekly bazaar in Sector H-9/3.

The CDA chairman has directed the authorities concerned to make these overhead bridges as soon as possible with attractive design to provide maximum facility to the users.

The meeting also approved the project for the construction of a medical college and teaching hospital at a suitable site. The meeting also approved the allocation of 31-acre land for the construction of a cricket stadium.

TRAFFIC SINGALS: The CDA has claimed that hundreds of traffic signals worth millions of rupees were vandalised in the aftermath of the tragic assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Over Rs1.5 million on urgent basis has been demanded to repair/reinstall the broken traffic signals.

APP adds: Pedestrians are facing problems while crossing roads on different points due to the absence of overhead bridges.

Mohammad Hanif, a resident of Sector G-6, said, it’s difficult to cross the roads due to heavy traffic on different roads of the city. He said that most of the vehicles indulge in speeding creating problems for pedestrians.

A student, Sajid Mir, said the students are suffering the more who cross roads daily at different places.