RAWALPINDI, March 9: Work on the Pirwadhai Mor Flyover and Underpass will be completed by March 14 and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif will inaugurate the project on the 15th. This was stated by MNA Malik Abrar of the PML-N while talking to Dawn.
“For the first time in the history of Rawalpindi, the PML-N-led provincial government spent over Rs4 billion to improve roads and flyovers.The PML-N will continue its people-friendly projects if it returns to power after the upcoming general elections.”
Officials of the Punjab Highway Department also claimed that the Pirwadhai project was unique and exemplary.
Superintendent Jamshaid Khan claimed that “for the first time in Punjab, we laid a continuous, 378-metre-long slab on the flyover between 2am and 9pm on Thursday. With that step, 80 per cent of the work on the project has been completed.”
Now the department will check the flyover, using machines to put weight on it over the next few days before clearing it for vehicular movement, he said. Once opened, all the traffic will be diverted to the flyover, and the service roads will be completed.
The flyover project was originally scheduled to be completed in four months at a cost of Rs1.447 billion.
The flyover is at Peshawar Road where traffic from Peshawar heads to Saddar. The underpass connects I.J. Principal Road with Peshawar Road.
A few obstacles, however, have officials worrying that the project may not be completed within the tenure of the current PML-N government.
Jamshaid Khan noted that construction of the underpass might take between 20 and 30 days. “The civic body and utility company were asked to shift telephone lines and other services so we could do the work but they haven’t done yet,” he said.
The owner of a petrol filling station on Peshawar Road has proved to be another obstacle. The station is allegedly on Highway Department land, but the owner has refused to vacate the premises.
“Now the case is pending in a court, and we cannot begin work on the service roads until it's settled,” Khan said.