LAHORE – The Kalma Chowk flyover is all set to become Punjab’s first ever ‘split flyover’ (two separated 3-lane bridges) along Ferozepur Road with six-lane underpasses along the Barkat Market and the Liberty main boulevards. The project is scheduled for completion by August 14. The flyover project suffered a provincial stay order on March 28 when the Lahore High Court (LHC) restrained the government from executing the project after a petition was filed, objecting to the flyover’s construction, terming it as ill planned and anti-environment.
However, LHC lifted the stay and allowed its construction on April 11, terming the flyover in public interest. According to a NESPAK official, the Kalma minaret at the center of the chowk, will either stay in the center and will be raised more than the height of the flyover or it will be relocated near the flyover, keeping in view that scenic beauty. Instead of the cemented model, the minaret would be reconstructed in steel, he added. “The flyover will stretch from Model Town Mor to Mubarik Center (towards the canal). The flyover will be 0.6 km long, 5.5 m high from the center and each 3-lane flyover’s bridge will be 11.4 m wide,” he added.
Kalma Chowk Flyover Project Director Col Ibrahim Dogar, a senior official of National Logistic Cell (NLC), told Pakistan Today that NESPAK had completed the design and would submit the presentation to the Punjab CM for its final approval. He said that the government had obtained all environment assessment reports that proved Kalma Chowk flyover as environment friendly. He said that the flyover costing Rs 1528 million was not a complete solution to traffic congestion on Ferozepur Road and its adjoining arteries and was only a step towards the solution. After the flyover’s construction, he said, some chunk of traffic load would be shifted towards the canal and Model Town Mor but the hold-ups would not be permanent.
“As per the broader roadmap to ease traffic in one kilometer radius of Ferozepur Road, government has envisaged building flyovers and underpasses at Model Town Mor, along the canal and at Center Point and Barkat Market in phases soon,” he said. Meanwhile some underpasses could also be constructed at Qenchi, Chungi Amr Siddhu, and Muslim Town Mor in the near future, he added. An official of the Communication and Works Department said that total traffic volume at the chowk was more than 0.4 million (more than 0.4 million vehicles pass the chowk daily).
Traffic load along Ferozepure Road was 61 percent and along the Main Boulevard was 39 percent, he said. “After the flyover’s construction, 61 percent of traffic along Ferozepur Road (from the canal to Model Town Mor) that clogs at the Kalma Chowk will become brakeless and signal free,” he said. Meanwhile 39 percent of traffic along the Main Boulevard (from Liberty Chowk to Barkat Market) will be eased as well, he added.
He said that a 10-meter space would be spared between the two bridges of the split flyover for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). Below the flyover, four lanes at the side of Deawoo Bus Service stand and three lanes at the side of Mubrik Center along the Ferozepur Road will be constructed, he added. According to the data available with Pakistan Today, total right of way (ROW) available for the flyover is 70 meters. All ROW is cleared and government does not need to acquire land.
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