LAHORE:
The Punjab government has a history of adopting a blank-figure approach to development in the province by importing projects carefully devised for developed nations, hoping to reap their benefits in the local context. One such effort is the recent biker’s lane announced at the Ferozepur Road.
Emulating the Chinese model, a 10-kilometer-long bikers’ lane has been announced by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) at the Ferozepur Road, at a cost of Rs1 billion, As the pilot project reaches its final stages of completion, critics argue that the construction of the lane has only made the road narrower, further exacerbating traffic problems.
Even before the inauguration, the paint has faded at many places while no arrangements have been made for drainage during the rains either. Moreover, buses drop off passengers on the road, which is further congesting the road and affecting the flow of traffic.
Faisal Mahmood, who travels on a motorcycle via the Ferozepur Road, disclosed the chaotic condition of traffic on the road. “In the past, due to the construction of the metro bus lane, underpasses and some overhead bridges, the road has been made single-lane at some places, where motorcyclists are already facing difficulties. Now, with the separation of the biker’s lane, the rate of traffic accidents will only increase,” warned Mahmood.
Robinson Arif, another citizen who travels daily on the Ferozepur Road, said that in the past, the government had also allocated a part of the Mall Road for buses and motorcycles, however due to the narrow width of the avenue, this was revoked within a few days. “Today, all types of traffic ply on this lane. Likewise, the dividers of the bikers’ lane built on the Ferozepur Road will break after a few months because the government has started this work without any planning. The government should first widen the roads and then build the bikers’ lane,” opined Arif.
Although the Director General LDA Tahir Farooq affirmed that the problems would reduce once the bikers’ lane was activated, Former Additional IG Traffic Police Rai Altaf Hussain opined that the government blindly copied models from foreign countries, without taking into account the major differences in infrastructure and traffic.
“In my opinion, the government should take the traffic authorities on board and start a project, which doesn’t impact the traffic flow but reduces the rate of accidents. Projects built under poor planning create a host of problems for the public,” said Farooq.
According to a joint report published by the Traffic Police and Rescue 1122, five to ten accidents occur on the Ferozepur Road on a daily basis, 65 percent of which involve motorcyclists as victims of accidents.
“We were given orders to construct this road. We started the pilot project without compiling the Planning Commission Form 1. Ferozepur Road is already narrow, and this project will worsen traffic problems. A report has been given to the government in this regard,” said the Director of Town Planning at the LDA, on the condition of anonymity.
Conversely, Provincial Information Minister Uzma Bukhari assured that on the instructions of Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz, a pilot project had been started to allocate a separate path for cyclists and motorcyclists on the roads, emulating the model of the Chinese capital Beijing.
“In the first phase, a bikers’ lane has been introduced on the Ferozepur Road from Canal Road to Lahore Bridge. Afterwards, biker’s lanes will be built on all roads in phases. The modern global concept of bikers’ lane will reduce accidents and improve traffic flow,” claimed Bukhari, who appealed to the citizens on behalf of the government to make this pilot project a success with their cooperation and discipline.
