Islamabad: ZERO POINT INTERCHANGE:Two loops ‘to be opened for traffic by November 25’

[LahoreEstate]

Saturday, November 21, 2009
Our correspondent

Islamabad

Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi here on Friday directed the concerned officials to ensure opening of two loops of the under-construction Zero Point interchange by November 25.

The first loop connects Islamabad Highway with Kashmir Highway and the second links Kashmir Highway with Faisal Avenue.

The two links were scheduled to be ready and opened for traffic by the second week of the current month. However the opening of the two loops for traffic got delayed because officials of the Electrical and Mechanical Directorate failed to take a decision on time with regard to installation of lights.

The CDA chairman was given a briefing on the project here on Friday by the new Member (Engineering) Abdul Jabbar Mellano and the project director. The project, which was progressing ahead of schedule till a couple of months back, seems to have confronted some serious hiccups. Now it seems that the project would be delayed.

Sources in the CDA Engineering Wing told ‘The News’ that all civil works have been completed and the two loops would be opened for traffic by the middle of the second week of this month, as was planned earlier. However they said that an inexplicable delay by officials of the Electrical and Mechanical Directorate, who had to decide the types of poles and lights to be installed at these loops, caused delay in the opening of the two loops in question.

“However now, the decision has been made and even poles, around 40 to 45 in number, have been sent to the site. Cables have already been laid and lights to be installed on poles were also selected. Now it should not take more than three days at the most to install these poles and install lights on them. The two loops would be opened by November 25,” sources said.

Director-General (Civic Management & Public Relations) Syed Mustafain Kazmi said that the CDA chairman also directed the member (engineering) and other concerned officials to take appropriate steps to ensure smooth flow of traffic entering or making an exit from Sector G-8, especially in the wake of the fact that once the Kashmir Highway-Faisal Avenue loop will be opened the flow of traffic on this section would increase substantially.

The member (engineering) and the Zero Point interchange project director informed the chairman that to deal with the situation a roundabout has been planned at the Service Road (East) at the junction of sectors G-8/3 and G-8/4.

“We have planned to close the existing entry-exit point to Sector G-8 at the ZTBL crossing and shift it about 200 metres ahead where we have planned to construct the roundabout. This would not only provide enough space for free movement of traffic coming from Kashmir Highway onto Faisal Avenue but it would also bring to an end the existing chaotic condition of traffic at the point because vehicles taking a U-turn from Faisal Avenue to enter Sector G-8,” the project director told ‘The News’.

The chairman told the member (engineering) and the project director to complete the roundabout by the deadline of November 25 and take all possible measures to ensure smooth flow of traffic at the point as well as it is very important because it provides an access to the Children’s Hospital of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on one side, while on the other it links the Nuclear Oncology Research Institute (NORI), also a part of the PIMS.

http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=209709