RAWALPINDI: With just a month remaining for the start of the monsoon season, the Punjab Communication and Works Department failed to start formal work on three underpasses on Peshawar Road.

However, officials said the side work had started and construction will begin within a week or two.

The underpasses are part of a plan to construct a signal-free corridor from Islamabad Expressway to the Motorway Chowk on Peshawar Road.

The total length of the signal-free corridor is 25 kilometres and it aims to reduce the travel time from Islamabad Expressway to the Motorway Chowk to only 15 to 20 minutes.

In this regard, the General Post Office Chowk had been completed last year while the Kutchery Chowk remodeling project completed in May. Work on the three underpasses at Race Course Park, Army Graveyard and Chairing Cross on Peshawar Road is likely to complete in the next fiscal year.

Once started, work on project will be completed within two months, says official

Construction experts were of the view that during the monsoon season, digging for the underpasses will create problems for the contractor.

They said that usually construction of roads is avoided in the monsoon season as rainwater accumulates in ditches and construction work faces disruptions.

They said during rains, work might be carried out twice which will be time consuming. Moreover, executors cannot be used properly during rains.

A senior official of the district administration said the communication and works department had started work on drains and construction of alternative roads from Qasim Market and Race Course Park.

“Before start of digging for underpasses, the executing agency wanted to complete the work on drains, construction of service roads and clear the way for formal work so that monsoon rains will not affect the project,” he said.

He said that formal work on underpasses was likely to start in a week or two. Once started, the work will be completed within two months.

He said that traffic police had been asked to make traffic plan and Rawalpindi Cantonment Board would complete patchwork on alternative roads, including Transit Camp Road, Bakery Chowk and the road

from Army Public School to Chairing Cross.

He said utility services on the corridor had been completed from Race Course to Qadir Motors stop where all services including Sui gas pipelines, telephone and electricity wires had been laid.

When contacted, Qamar Saqib, Executive Engineer Punjab Highway Department, said that homework on the new projects of underpasses had been completed.

He said that in the first phase, shifting of services had been completed on Peshawar Road and the construction work on the underpasses will be started as soon as possible.

He said there was a dire need to construct underpasses to establish signal-free corridor for the motorway.

Published in Dawn, June 1st, 2026