LAHORE: The Ring Road’s Southern Loop-3 was opened to motorists on Thursday after the Lahore Ring Road Authority (LRRA) substantially completed the project in association with the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

“The Southern Loop-3 Project remained halted for the last 12 years. But we got this important job done in a record period of 130 days only,” Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi said after inaugurating the project.

The CM, on the occasion, reviewed construction of the 8-km long SL-3 from Adda Plot up to the Marakka, Multan Road. He said the project worth Rs16.5 billion will provide excellent transportation facilities to the motorists at large. All those who contributed their part in the completion of this project deserve appreciation. “There were a lot of traffic problems in the area and the entire team has nicely handled them,” he added.

The government had decided to launch construction on the SL-3 in June, this year after the cabinet approved the Rs17.798bn PC-I. The project had been hit by litigation since 2016 due to the alleged intervention of a “powerful” real estate tycoon. The work on SL-3 had been started formally in August last year after the Punjab finance department initially released Rs6bn to the LRRA with a commitment to release remaining funds in phases.

The project connects to Ring Road SL-4, on which the work will be launched after approval of design, PC-1, estimates, bidding etc. The SL-3 loop starts from Adda Plot on Raiwind Road and ends at Maraka on Multan Road, linking Bahria Town, Pakistan Medical Society, various village settlements and several other residential localities. It is an 8-km long six-lane dual carriageway having two interchanges, eight bridges, four service road bridges (single span), six subways, 22 culverts and 24-km long drain.

Earlier, it was to be constructed at a cost of Rs10bn under the public-private partnership mode on the build, operate and transfer basis and the project cost was supposed to be recovered by the contractors through toll from motorists within 25 years.

The first contract of the project had been awarded to a private firm for Rs8bn. The LRRA in August 2016 had tried to start work through Bahria Town but the housing scheme’s administration and others obtained a stay order even though a compensation of around Rs550 million had been deposited with the court’s treasury as per its directions.

In 2017, the court vacated the stay order. However, the aggrieved parties again got a stay by filing an intra-court appeal. The stay was again vacated in 2018, but the work on the project couldn’t be launched.

In October 2018, a joint team of the LRRA, city district administration and police had also retrieved the land from the housing project in days-long operation amid demolition of 73 houses, four plazas and other buildings. The project was, however, finally shelved allegedly by the PTI/Buzdar-led Punjab government for unknown reasons.

The loop was opened to traffic after Chief Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi inaugurated its substantial completion,” a senior official of the LRRA said while talking to Dawn.

“Motorists can use the SL-3 since over 8km long loop has been completed 100 per cent. The interchanges have also been completed, as only some allied works are under way at the moment,” he said.

To a question, he said the project would be completed fully by end of this month.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2024