RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) on Friday started construction work on a pedestrian underpass on Murree Road at the cost of Rs20 million.

The underpass will connect Gulshan Dadan Khan with Shamsabad. There was need for either a pedestrian underpass or overhead bridge after Murree Road was made signal free from Chandni Chowk to Faizabad.

RDA chief engineer Ather Hussain Bukhari told Dawn the project was started on Friday and will be completed in three months and that construction work will not create problems for commuters. He said the traffic police has been informed about the project and that the service road on both sides of Murree Road will be utilised for construction work.

“After a survey, it was decided that the underpass will be built in Shamsabad and an overhead pedestrian bridge will be constructed near the Shah Diyan Talian Graveyard, between Liaquat Bagh and Committee Chowk,” he added.

Mr Bukhari said work on the installation of the overheard bridge will be started soon and that overhead bridges had been demanded by locals after they were removed during work on the metro bus track.

There are many government and private schools in the area and children face problems crossing main Murree Road, he said. However, the overhead bridge will be installed so it is lower than the elevated metro bus track and the track’s structure will not be utilised for the bridge.

Former PML-N MNA Malik Shakil Awan said locals had been demanding pedestrian bridges for two years. He suggested they should also be installed near the Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Waris Khan.

Meanwhile, the City Traffic Police have asked commuters to Islamabad to prefer alternative routes over Murree Road to avoid traffic congestion as construction work on the pedestrian underpass would disturb traffic.

Chief Traffic Officer Yousuf Ali Shahid asked the motorist to use Cricket Stadium Road, Peshawar Road, Airport Road and other alternative routes for Islamabad to avoid traffic congestion on Murree Road as the construction work on pedestrian underpass would take more than two weeks to complete.

The CTO said extra traffic wardens had been deployed on Murree Road to facilitate road users and a public awareness campaign was also launched to guide people during construction work.

The City Traffic Police advised the motorists to call the traffic police on its helpline number 051-9272616 in case of assistance and guidance.

Published in Dawn, February 4th, 2018