A two-week extension in the Canal Road extension project will lead to major traffic jams in the city, Pakistan Today learnt on Monday. Large parts of the Canal Road are expected to be cordoned off in the final phase of the project which would lead to massive jams on the other arteries of the city also. “Former deadline for the completion of the project was December 17,” sources in the Communication and Works Department claimed, adding that the deadline had been extended to December 25. “The Punjab government miscalculated the traffic pressure on the Canal Road which is why they have extended the deadline of the project,” said an onsite engineer asking not to be named, adding “the aim of the government was to complete the project at all costs but the Canal Road is the city’s main road and thousands of commuters use it every day”.
The engineer further warned of traffic jams saying that the finishing phase is the hardest. “Traffic would be continuously cordoned off on different days for different patches till the project is not completed,” he said, adding that the traffic condition could worsen since the roads will take time to dry up because of the weather. One side of the Canal Road was closed off from early Sunday morning to Monday morning from the Jail Road to the Mall Road underpass which led to major traffic jams on the alternate routes that were adopted by the commuters.
