Most of the residents living on the Islamabad Expressway seem reluctant to use the overhead bridges built on various points in order to facilitate them.
Despite warnings by the police and traffic sergeants, pedestrians simply slip through the grills dividing the road and walk across the road, rather than making the extra effort to climb the overhead bridge.
“We are doing our best to educate the road users, but I agree that most of the pedestrians prefer the short-cut and avoid the use of overhead bridges”, he said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman of Capital Development Authority (CDA) said that a proposal was being considered to construct a six-feet-high safety wall along the Islamabad Expressway in order to discourage the pedestrians from crossing the road but due to the financial crunch the plan had been dropped for the time being.
Mareer Chowk Tunnel halved
Design of the Mareer Chowk Tunnel has been cut down in length from 3000 to 1500 feet, without any change in the cost of the project, said sources. However, Rawalpindi Development Authority Director (Engineering) Asghar Waraich did not confirm the decrease in the length of the tunnel. “Minor changes in mega-projects are common but I am confident that the project would be completed on time. That is all that matters,” he said.