Flawed Interchange design to cost CDA Rs700 million

[Salman]

ISLAMABAD – The Capital Development Authority (CDA) would construct another two flyovers on Faisal Avenue against Rs700 million to address the engineering flaws of the already constructed Jinnah-Faisal Avenue Interchange.

According to a CDA official, the Authority would soon finalize project’s design and table it before the CDA Board to approve it that would follow the award of contract.

In 2009, the Authority had spent around Rs1 billion on the interchange on the intersection of Jinnah Avenue and Faisal Avenue containing an underpass and a flyover supposed to cater traffic moving to and from Blue Area, the downtown of the federal capital.

The Authority ignored the repeated warnings from various circles that design of the underpass contained flaws and would cause traffic congestion at the intersection instead of ensuring smooth traffic flow.

Even the Planning Commission had also asked the CDA to revise the design as it would not cater to the traffic coming to and from two service roads named Fazl-e-Haq and Nazimuddin.

The Authority had dualized both of the Service Roads costing millions of rupees to address the swelling traffic congestion but the interchange had disconnected roads causing traffic congestion.

Even the civic body had failed to realize the existence of two major hospitals on Fazl-e-Haq Road including PIMS and Polyclinic where the ambulances frequently move but since the construction of interchange, they had to adopt alternate routes.

Even, according to a CDA official, the contractor firm had also proposed the CDA to review the design or build two overhead bridges to link both service roads otherwise the motorists would have to cover long distance to reach other sides of the roads.

Soon after completion of the interchange, the CDA had to install traffic signals on the Jinnah Avenue after witnessing massive traffic congestion on the intersection contrary to the idea of uninterrupted traffic flow behind construction of the interchange.

However, the CDA is in the process of designing another two flyovers on both the service roads that would cost it Rs700 million amidst the situation when it had been starving for funds even to bear salaries of its employees.

“Had these overhead bridges been constructed simultaneously with the interchange, it would have cost not more than Rs400 million with minor modification in the design,” said an official.