LAHORE: Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the newly-constructed Walton Flyover near Qainchi on Ferozepur Road here on Sunday.

Earlier, LDA Director-General Ahad Khan Cheema gave a briefing to the chief minister about the flyover.

The chief minister said the Walton Flyover project had been completed within a short period of two months while a high standard and transparency was also maintained.

He said the project would facilitate about 150,000 motorists every day who used Ferozepur Road to proceed to Walton, Defence and other localities and vice versa.

The chief minister said the project would save fuel cost of over Rs5 billion annually.

The chief minister said the first phase of the public welfare project of making Ferozepur Road signal-free from Walton to Ferozepur Road had been completed with the construction of the flyover while work was in progress round-the-clock on the second phase of the project.

He said the completion of the project would save time of the people and streamline the flow of traffic on Ferozepur Road.

He said the project would also facilitate doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and patients going to Lahore General Hospital and Children’s Hospital.

Mr Shahbaz said the completion of 872 meter long Walton Flyover costing Rs700 million was the result of the best coordination between political leadership and agencies working on the project.

He said that due attention would be paid to quality, speed and transparency in the execution of development projects in future as well.

He lauded the efforts of the LDA DG in materializing the project in a short span of time like Kalma underpass and the Metro Bus System.

He also paid tributes to P&D Department Chairman Irfan Elahi, Lahore Commissioner Rashid Mahmood Langrial, LDA Vice-Chairman Khawaja Ahmad Hassan, local MPAs and others for coordinating various project activities with the authorities concerned.

Mr Shahbaz said the attack on senior journalist Hamid Mir was tragic and highly condemnable and prayed for his early recovery.

He said the federal government would conduct an inquiry into the incident and the elements involved in the heinous act would soon be apprehended and brought to justice.