Sohan Interchange to be completed by end October

Islamabad :Finally, the ‘Sohan interchange’ is fast approaching completion, which will eliminate the second last intersection with a traffic signal, on the Islamabad Expressway.

The project is part of the plan to turn the ‘Islamabad Expressway’ from T-Chowk near Rawat on the G.T. Road in the south right up the Faisal Chowk on Khayaban-e-Iqbal (Margalla Road) in the North, a signal-free corridor.

“We are striving to throw the ‘Sohan Inter-change’ open for traffic from all directions by the end of October (2017). It was a tremendous effort made by the CDA team engaged on the project to complete mounting of 36 girders before the Muharram al-Haram holidays and I am really pleased with their performance,” Sheikh Anser Aziz, the Chairman of the CDA and the Mayor of Islamabad said while talking to ‘The News’ late Wednesday night.

“We hope the remaining work, around 10 per cent of this part of the project, would also be completed before the month of October is out. Once opened, the signal at Sohan chowk will be eliminated, further smoothening the flow of traffic on the Islamabad Expressway,” Chairman Anser Aziz said.

This segment of the ‘Signal Free Corridor’ consists of two components that include two inter-changes to be built, first one at Dhok Kala Khan to eliminate the traffic signal at Sohan chowk and the second at ‘Khanna Pull’, which will eliminate the ‘strategic U-turn’ on the ‘Expressway’ near Gangal.

Sheikh Anser said that the project is still confronted with a few hiccups as the IESCO is required to shift their installations and lines, falling within the radius of the loops of these inter-changes. “We are in contact with them (IESCO officials) and we hope that they will make the necessary arrangements without causing any further delay,” the CDA Chairman said.

The Project Director, Engineer Mumtaz Hussain said that while the Sohan Interchange is likely to be completed in all respects by the end of October, Khana Inter-change, the second part of the this segment would be completed by December 31, 2017.

“As much as 40 per cent of work has been completed on the Khana Inter-change. It would be a clover-leaf interchange, like the one at Karal Chowk and would need 60 girders on the bridges as compared with 36 required at the Sohan Inter-change,” Engineer Mumtaz Hussain said.

He said that 36 girders out of 60 for Khanna Inter-change have already been casted and while the work to cast the remaining 24 is also continuing.

“We have already launched earth work on Khanna Inter-change side by casting the girders. The two major issues there would be the shifting of the IESCO infrastructure and the shifting of the large number of stalls, vendors and squatters who have established a fruit and vegetable market there. We hope both the issues would be resolved amicably,” Engineer Mumtaz Hussain said.