LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday inaugurated the controlled access corridor (Bund Road Package-II) and Ravi Bridge expansion projects, besides remodeling of Babu Sabu Interchange (on the main entrance and exit of controlled access corridor project).

She directed the authorities concerned to further expand service lanes along the closed road for convenience of the people living in the surrounding areas.

The CM planted a sapling on the occasion and also inspected quality of work on Bund Road Package-II and Ravi Bridge. She also inspected service roads along the controlledaccess corridor road.

She was informed by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) top officials that the construction of Niazi Interchange to Saggian and Saggian to Babu Sabu Interchange project has also been completed. Service lanes have been opened on both sides of the 7.5 km controlled access corridor Bund Road project.

LDA Director General (DG) Tahir Farooq and Chief Engineer Israr Saeed gave a detailed briefing on the projects.

They said the repair and rehabilitation work on the drain has also been completed, besides the construction of a service road and five vehicular and four pedestrian subways were also constructed on the Bund Road service road.

At Babu Sabu Chowk, a greenbelt and apark have also been built after clearing encroachments on 16 kanal and 6 marla land worth more than Rs1.5 billion and a 540-meter-long four-lane bridge has been constructed on Ravi River, the CM was told by the officials.

They said that residents of Shahdara, Kot Abdul Malik, Sheikhupura, Kalashah Kaku, Lahore Ring Road and other adjacent areas would benefit from the Ravi Bridge project, whereas those living in Gulshan-i-Ravi, Sanda, Chauhan Road, Saggian, Sherakot, Shafiqabad, Rasulpura, Bilal Ganj, Munshi Hospital, Amin Park and other adjacent settlements will benefit from controlled access corridor Bund Road project.

Senior Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, MPA Sania Ashiq, LDA Vice ChairmanMian Marghub Ahmed, MPA Samiullah Khan, PH A Chairman Ghazali Saleem Butt, Special Assistant Zeeshan Malik. Rashid Nasrullah and Hafiz Nauman accompanied the chief minister.

Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman, Housing Secretary Asadullah Khan, CCPO, CTO, and other officials concerned were also present.

The work on the Bund Road project was launched in 2022 to resolve the traffic congestion and pollution issues. After various studies, the government decided to rehabilitate this major outer artery. Initially, three options were considered for the project titled `Rehabilitation of Bund Road from Babu Sabu Interchange to Ring Road along with improvement at Gulshan-i-Ravi T-Junction`. But later, the design of the pro-ject and its scope were reviewed and finalised again with increased height of the main expressway along with other facilities.

In September, the then caretaker chief minister Mohsin Naqvi laid the foundation stone of the project that restricted mobility of local traffic on the main elevated corridor. Such traffic (motorcycles, rickshaws, vans and cars) was provided with a separate two-lane expressway on each side, along with subways, to move towards Babu Sabu or Niazi Chowk or the nearby localities, instead of the Bund Road, which is part of the ring road.

The project was delayed considerably due to land acquisition, late release of funds and various technical and administrative issues.