KABUL (Pajhwok): The design for a flyover and four cloverleaf ramps at Kabul airport square has been finalised following technical and traffic studies and comprehensive assessments, Kabul Municipality said.
According to a municipal statement, Eng. Faiq Ahmad Tasal, head of the Urban Infrastructure Department, said the design takes into account existing traffic data, the area’s topography, plans for establishing an organised public transport system and other transport-related factors.
Under the final design, the flyover will have three lanes in each direction at different sections and five lanes in each direction in the middle section. Four cloverleaf ramps will also be constructed.
Tasal said implementation of the project would significantly increase traffic capacity and improve the level of service at the airport intersection, reduce congestion and provide safer, more orderly and reliable movement for citizens.
He said that with Kabul’s growing population and increasing number of vehicles, developing a modern and organised transport system was an essential need for the capital.
He added that Kabul Municipality had developed comprehensive plans and solutions, alongside other infrastructure projects, to address traffic challenges and planned to construct flyovers at several congested locations across the city.
The municipality said severe congestion in the area causes daily loss of citizens’ time, increases fuel consumption and environmental pollution, and reduces the efficiency of the transport system.
It said traffic data and conditions at the intersection had previously been collected and analysed. The findings showed that the intersection currently had a low level of service under its existing at-grade configuration and could not accommodate current traffic volumes or projected growth in transport demand.
According to the final design, the flyover will be 620 metres long, 44 metres wide and six metres high. The four cloverleaf ramps will be 245 and 253 metres long, with radii of 51 and 54 metres.
The municipality said construction work was expected to begin soon and that the project would increase traffic capacity and improves traffic flow at the intersection.
The airport intersection is located where the main Kabul-Jalalabad road meets the airport road and is considered one of the busiest intersections in Kabul, the municipality said.
Earlier, Kabul Municipality spokesman Niamatullah Barakzai told Pajhwok that seven flyovers were planned in the city.
He said the projects included flyovers in Baraki, Salang Road, Minar-i-Najat and Shahid Square, as well as three others at the Kabul airport intersection, Makroyan III intersection and Company area.
Barakzai said the Baraki flyover was the largest of the planned projects and had the highest budget.
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