ISLAMABAD: City managers are all set to inaugurate two main projects of the federal capital — Rawal Dam flyover and the 7th Avenue interchange — on Independence Day (Aug 14).

A meeting in this regard was held at the Capital Development Authority (CDA) headquarters, presided over by the authority’s chairman Amer Ali Ahmed.

Talking to Dawn, participants of the meeting said that the flyover and roads of the Rawal Dam project would be completed in the next two days before their formal inauguration on Independence Day.

They said that lighting and lane marking work was underway now.

According to an official, the underpass would most probably be completed after one month.

Lighting work, lane marking underway, say CDA officials

Talking about the interchange, he said the project would be inaugurated on substantial completion of the flyover. Before today’s meeting, the CDA chairman and officials of the engineering wing visited both sites on Tuesday and directed the officials concerned to ensure completion of these two projects by August 14.

Meanwhile, a press release issued by the civic body on Wednesday stated that a major part of the interchange of Rawal Dam had been completed.

“Asphalt [on flyover] done and now uplift of the surrounding is being done. After a couple of days lane marking will be carried out and art work completed. New Jersey barriers are being completed in the next two to three days and then this bridge/flyover will be opened for public,” the press release stated, adding that the remaining work on the underpass shall continue and completed in the next 20-30 days, depending upon the weather.

It is relevant to note here that the original deadline of this project is October, however, due to directions issued by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, officials of the civic agency remained on their toes to get the work done. Work on the project, worth Rs1.1 billion, began in October 2020.

Meanwhile, officials said that work on the 7th Avenue project is also almost complete. An interchange is being built at the junction of 7th Avenue, Srinagar Highway, Khayaban-i-Suhrwardi and Garden Avenue near Aabpara. As compared to other projects of the CDA, this project was executed speedily as according to PC-I, its original deadline is October.

The interchange will act like a cloverleaf, with four left and right loops, while there is an underpass to link both portions of it with Khayaban-i-Suhrwardi. Construction of the interchange was planned in 2008 and many times, the CDA management discussed it, but no practical progress was made until last year.

It must be noted that due to a bottle neck at this junction, motorists would face traffic congestion for years and the long wait at traffic signals would test their patience. Now, after completion of this project, Srinagar Highway would become one of the fastest roads of the city.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2022