The civic officials on Saturday initiated road carpeting work at the railway over bridge (ROB) on Pakhowal Road railway crossing. Although the road carpeting work will only take a few days, the residents will have to wait until December to access the road as the officials require time to lay mastic asphalt.The ROB is part of Pakhowal Road RUB/ROB project under which two railway under bridges (RUBs) are already opened for the public.
This project will provide immense relief to commuters from traffic problems as most of the residents, particularly the school students and their parents, used to be stuck in traffic snarls at the railway crossing. The commuters traveling from Pakhowal Road towards Bhai Wala Chowk will also be able to take this route.
MC executive engineer Balwinder Singh said, “While the bitumen is being laid at the flyover, laying of mastic asphalt will take time so we have now extended the deadline till December end.” He stated that the project is important for people and it will provide great relief once it is completed.
The Pakhowal road railway crossing is located on Ferozepur-Ludhiana railway line near a convent school. The continuous movement of trains here has become a permanent issue for the commuters. At this railway crossing, an ROB approximately 839.83m in length is being constructed from Sidhwan Canal side towards Hero Bakery side, along Pakhowal Road.
Notably, this project was initially announced in 2007-08, but it got a new lease of life when it was included in the list of Smart City Mission projects. On September 6, 2017, local bodies minister Navjot Sidhu had laid foundation stone for this project.
The project has remained a center of political controversy as when the RUB from Hero Bakery chowk towards Pakhowal Road was to be inaugurated, Congress MP Ravneet Bittu and AAP MLA Gurpreet Gogi got into a tussle over its inauguration.