KARACHI, Dec 18: President General Pervez Musharraf will inaugurate the first signal-free corridor from SITE to the airport in second week of January. Sources in the city government told Dawn all three underpasses and three flyovers of the signal-free corridor would be completed by the first week of January but formal inauguration was subject to availability of the president.

The six projects include three underpasses in Nazimabad, Liaquatabad, Gharibabad and three flyovers at Hassan Square, National Stadium and Karsaz Road, which will provide easy access to the airport via Sharea Faisal.

Sources said last month City Nazim Mustafa Kamal requested the president to inaugurate the project to which the president agreed. However, owing to security reasons the exact date of president’s visit to inaugurate the project would be shared with the city government in the beginning of January.

The city government officials said that the National Stadium and Karsaz Road flyovers had been completed while the work on Hassan Square flyover would be concluded within a fortnight. One track each of Nazimabad and Liaquatabad underpasses has also been opened for traffic and the second track of both underpasses is nearing completion. The Gharibabad underpass is a single-track project, which has opened for traffic. The total cost of all six projects was Rs1.87 billion.

City government officials observed construction of Liaquatabad underpass was the most difficult task in all the six projects as a 132 KV Extra High Tension (EHT) line of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) was passing through the site and any miscalculation in erecting the sidewalls and pillars would have resulted in disaster. The Liaquatabad underpass would be the last of the six projects to be completed, they added.

All the six projects would be handed over to the city government by their respective contractors in the first week of January.