Flyover, subway designs to be finalised this week
KATHMANDU, MAR 07 -
The government plans to finalise the designs of the five flyovers or underpasses to be built at five intersections in the capital this week. Five flyovers or underpasses at New Baneshwor, Kalimati, Tripureshwor, Thapathali and Old Baneshwor.
The Department of Road (DoR) has been holding discussions with international experts, consulting firms and stakeholders to form the final plan. The DoR on Monday held a stakeholders’ meeting to collect opinions on the proposed crossings. Two options finalised by international traffic experts for each location were discussed at the gathering.
Soil Test and Abhiyan Consulting have been working as consultant to the project as a joint venture, and they have hired two experts for a survey and design review. International traffic engineers Qazi Tariq Mahmood and Atif Maswood M Saadi settled on the two options after reviewing the proposals made by the consultants.
“We will finalise one design for each location within a week based on the opinions of the stakeholders and inputs of international traffic experts,” said Senior Divisional Engineer Naresh Man Shakya of the Bridge Project of the department. The project is handling all the work related to the proposed grade separated intersections.
A 17-m wide, four-lane flyover from Bijuli Bazaar to the Tinkune side or a two-lane underpass for the Old Baneshwor-Sankhamul section have been proposed for improving traffic movement at New Baneshwor. For the Thapathali junction, a two-lane, 3.1 km flyover connecting Maitighar-Thapathali-Tripureshwor-Kalimati and a flyover at the Maitighar-Tripureshwor section were also discussed at the meeting.
Similarly, a two-lane underpass from Thapathali to Kalimati or a two-lane flyover from Sundhara to Thapathali at the Tripureshwor junction, a two-lane flyover from Teku to Soaltee Mod or a flyover starting from Kuleshwor to Teku at the Kalimati intersection have been proposed after the review carried out by the international traffic engineers. As for Old Baneshwor, a grade separated underpass from Maitidevi to Sinamangal or a two-lane flyover from Battisputali to New Baneshwor has been proposed.
“The options have been proposed based on workability, functionality, locations selected and the world’s traffic management system,” said Saadi. He added that a four-lane flyover for New Baneshwor would be the best option.
The government has aimed to complete the DPR for the proposed flyovers and underpasses by mid-July this year. The stakeholders including the Federation of Contractors Associations of Nepal, engineering consultancy firms, the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works and construction companies were present at the meeting. They emphasised making the junctions friendly for bicycles, differently abled people and pedestrians.
However, no officials from the major stakeholders—the traffic police, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), security agencies and the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs—attended the meeting despite having been invited by the department. Officials said they would hold discussions with KMC and the traffic police before finalising the designs.
Source: Kantipur
