by ZeeShan Kahloon 
Headline: Government has approved the construction of Shahkam Chowk Lahore flyover and LDA has finalized the blueprints of the Shahkam Chowk Lahore flyover.
Administrative approval for the development of Shahkam Chowk flyover has been given by the Punjab Government, paving the way for the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to obtain sufficient funding soon to begin the Rs3.5 billion project.
The Construction Of Shahkam Chowk Lahore Flyover To Start Soon
An administrative approval grant means that the Punjab government will completely finance this project which the LDA will be carrying out. Consequently, LDA plans to release funds early in this regard, allowing them to follow the process of tendering, bidding, and awarding projects.
Features And Details Of Shahkam Chowk Lahore Flyover
- 600 meters long flyover will be two-sided and each side will have three lanes.
- An amount of PKR 3.5 billion is set for the extension and construction of the Multan Road patch from Labour Colony to Defense Road.
- An amount of PKR 1 billion is estimated for the construction and completion of the flyover.
- LDA has started on the process of pre-qualification of the contractors and engineers involved in the building of Shahkam Chowk flyover. The noticed will be issued till 25th July and all the interested firms will be contacted.
An Annual Development Program
The Government had previously intended to carry out this project on a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) or Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis. But any private party interested in completing this in this way could not get a positive response. Later, the PPP commission eventually agreed to take this project out of the projects specified in the PPP, asking the government to finance this by adding it into the annual development program.
But the Government did not give its administrative approval until the presentation of the annual budget. However, by allocating a nominal sum of PKR 5 million, the finance department reflected the project in the ADP so that the government could not only grant administrative approval but also assign and transfer funds to the implementing agency.
Good News for the residents of Bahria Town Lahore
Shahkam intersection flyover is the most important project of the city since the residents of various housing schemes along the connecting canal road (Thokar to Bahria Town) faced great difficulties in transportation, particularly as they passed through this intersection, which most of the time remains shocked due to the passage of light and heavy traffic from Multan Road to Bhupatian Chowk, Canal Road, and Bhupatian Chowk.
One of Bahria Town’s big and chaotic problems we have faced for years is the Shahkam Chowk entrance/exit point. A notice about the approval of flyover by city authorities at Shahkam Chowk has been circulating on social media. The flyover connects Shakam to Sharakpur and Shahdara according to some real estate consultants. The plant will be about 16 km away, and it will be completed in one year. The projected cost would be over 11 billion and 200 Kanals of land has also been purchased by the State.
If you intend to cross this intersection it’s very bad, because it takes at least 15 to 20 minutes in regular hours. The Government will therefore develop this flyover on a war footing.
Bids for Tenders
Lahore Development Authority Official has announced that on 25 July 2020 the tender inviting bids to build Shahkam Chowk Flyover, Canal Road will be floated. Currently, the authority is working on finalizing information on the financing needed for the projects. The LDA had previously proposed designing the project under the system of private-public collaboration but the government has now decided otherwise.
Sources assert that the development of Shahkam Chowk Flyover would minimize traffic on Defense Road, Multan Road, and at Bahria Town’s entry and exit point on Canal Bank Road, and add that the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK) has also prepared a project design that highlights the flyover as a dual 3-lane carriageway. The LDA will buy 25 kanals of land for the project construction at a cost of 450 million rupees.
