ISLAMABAD: The under-construction underpass on Faisal Avenue is likely be completed within a month.

The construction work is nearing completion, as the underpass has been built and base work to lay the asphalt is in progress.

“The project will be completed within the next three weeks or maximum in one month’s time,” Capital Development Authority (CDA) Member Planning Dr Shahid Mahmood said.

He said the underpass is a replica of the one built on 7th Avenue to link F-6 with F-7.

Once completed, traffic between Rawalpindi and Islamabad will move beneath the underpass while traffic between G-7 and G-8 will cross the top of the underpass.

Bridge is ready and now we are dismantling steel shuttering while base work is being done to lay asphalt, workers say

Mr Mahmood said the underpass was imperative as Faisal Avenue is one of the busiest roads in the capital and motorists face gridlocks at the Zero Point U-turn and the U-turn near the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims), which sometimes also causes accidents.

“Once completed, the project will ensure that traffic flows smoothly on this avenue,” he said, adding at a later stage the CDA will also construct a similar underpass to connect F-7 with F-8.

Workers engaged in the Rs395 million project who Dawn spoke to said subject to weather the project will be completed in the next three weeks.

“The bridge is ready. Now we are dismantling the steel shuttering, while the base work is being done to lay the asphalt,” a worker said.

He said the constant rain has been causing hurdles to the completion of the project, as it is difficult to lay asphalt on wet land.

Construction on the underpass began in October-November last year, and it was supposed to be completed in six months. Work was halted for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Mr Mahmood said the CDA would make every effort to complete the project in the next three weeks.

The project has also led to congestion on the alternative service road motorists are using.

“We have been facing a traffic mess on this service road. But it is a matter of a few weeks now that this project will be completed, so our hardship is temporary,” said taxi driver Asghar Ali.

The construction of two underpasses on Faisal Avenue, one connecting G-7 and G-8 and the other F-7 and F-8, was approved by the CDA in 2014, but work did not begin until last October.

According to the capital’s master plan, the CDA was supposed to construct roads to divide all the residential sectors as well as underpasses to connect them. So far, the authority has constructed underpasses on 7th Avenue that connect G-6 with G-7 and F-6 with F-7 as well as some on 9th Avenue.

Beyond 9th Avenue, so far, the CDA has failed to construct new major roads to divide the sectors, however, for this year, the CDA is planning to construct 10th Avenue.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2020