ISLAMABAD - The city managers have met the deadlines given by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and completed two interchanges at 7th Avenue and at Rawal Dam Chowk, which would be made operational on 14th of August.
The concerned formations under the supervision of Chairman CDA Amir Ali Ahmed put their all-out efforts to complete both projects within months and resultantly the projects are near completion.
It is expected that both the projects would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 14th of August.
According to details, main flyovers and slipways on both projects have been completed and projects are ready to run traffic over them and once inaugurated rest of the work would also be completed within two weeks.
Meanwhile, as per the directions of Prime Minister, the massive plantation in addition to the landscaping has also been carried out in full swing alongside both projects.
Sources told that to ensure timely completion of these projects, Member Engineering CDA Syed Munawar Shah has been asked to remain on site and personally look after the construction work.
Meanwhile, Chairman CDA Amir Ali Ahmed also visited Rawal Dam Interchange on Wednesday and inspected the quality of work being done on site. He directed the concerned formations to ensure quality of work in addition to speed.
The said project in addition to two others was awarded to a joint venture of Maqbool Associates and Calson in June 2020.
The contractor completed almost 90 percent of work on the PWD underpass and it was opened for traffic. However, it had stopped working on other two projects, Rawal Dam Interchange and Korang Bridge, in March 2022.
In the meantime, the government has changed in the capital and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his early days in the office had paid a surprise visit to this project where he expressed his dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work.
He also got annoyed after knowing that the project was given to Maqbool Associates and Calson because the same company was blacklisted by Punjab government during younger Sharif’s tenure as chief minister Punjab, when the company was employed on Orange Line Lahore.
A decision to handover this project to FWO was taken during the visit of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who inspected work on the under-construction interchange and after a briefing, it was decided to change the contractor with a direction to start the construction within 72 hours.
Later, the project was handed over to the FWO, which has agreed to complete the project without demanding any escalation in the cost in the contract.
The project includes multiple slip roads and one underpass as well as an overhead bridge and a separate underpass connecting Margalla Town. The project is being constructed at the junction of Murree Road, Club Road and Park Road.
On the other hand, the interchange at 7th Avenue was first planned in 2008 and many times the CDA management discussed it in its Development Working Party meetings but the project could not come out of papers.
On the other hand, motorists have been facing traffic mess and prolonged signals at the junction. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on a daily basis particularly during office and school hours.
While keeping people’s suffering in mind, it had been decided to award 7th Avenue Interchange to NLC without going into open bidding for its early completion under section 43/F of the PPRA rules.
The concerned formations under the supervision of Chairman CDA Amir Ali Ahmed put their all-out efforts to complete both projects within months and resultantly the projects are near completion.
It is expected that both the projects would be inaugurated by the Prime Minister on 14th of August.
According to details, main flyovers and slipways on both projects have been completed and projects are ready to run traffic over them and once inaugurated rest of the work would also be completed within two weeks.
Meanwhile, as per the directions of Prime Minister, the massive plantation in addition to the landscaping has also been carried out in full swing alongside both projects.
Sources told that to ensure timely completion of these projects, Member Engineering CDA Syed Munawar Shah has been asked to remain on site and personally look after the construction work.
Meanwhile, Chairman CDA Amir Ali Ahmed also visited Rawal Dam Interchange on Wednesday and inspected the quality of work being done on site. He directed the concerned formations to ensure quality of work in addition to speed.
The said project in addition to two others was awarded to a joint venture of Maqbool Associates and Calson in June 2020.
The contractor completed almost 90 percent of work on the PWD underpass and it was opened for traffic. However, it had stopped working on other two projects, Rawal Dam Interchange and Korang Bridge, in March 2022.
In the meantime, the government has changed in the capital and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in his early days in the office had paid a surprise visit to this project where he expressed his dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work.
He also got annoyed after knowing that the project was given to Maqbool Associates and Calson because the same company was blacklisted by Punjab government during younger Sharif’s tenure as chief minister Punjab, when the company was employed on Orange Line Lahore.
A decision to handover this project to FWO was taken during the visit of the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who inspected work on the under-construction interchange and after a briefing, it was decided to change the contractor with a direction to start the construction within 72 hours.
Later, the project was handed over to the FWO, which has agreed to complete the project without demanding any escalation in the cost in the contract.
The project includes multiple slip roads and one underpass as well as an overhead bridge and a separate underpass connecting Margalla Town. The project is being constructed at the junction of Murree Road, Club Road and Park Road.
On the other hand, the interchange at 7th Avenue was first planned in 2008 and many times the CDA management discussed it in its Development Working Party meetings but the project could not come out of papers.
On the other hand, motorists have been facing traffic mess and prolonged signals at the junction. Long queues of vehicles could be seen on a daily basis particularly during office and school hours.
While keeping people’s suffering in mind, it had been decided to award 7th Avenue Interchange to NLC without going into open bidding for its early completion under section 43/F of the PPRA rules.
