Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is expected to lay the foundation stone of the Shaheen Chowk Underpass Project and inaugurate the Gardenia Hub in Islamabad today (Friday). Preparations for the ceremony have been finalized by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), officials confirmed.
The Shaheen Chowk project, costing Rs1.3 billion, aims to resolve one of the capital’s major traffic bottlenecks. The underpass will be built at the busy intersection of Khayaban-i-Iqbal (Margalla Road) and 9th Avenue, which faces severe congestion during peak hours due to the presence of several educational institutions and government offices nearby.
According to CDA officials, the design allows traffic on Margalla Road to move through the underpass, while the upper deck will connect 9th Avenue with the adjoining service roads to ensure smoother traffic flow. The contract for the project has already been awarded.
Alongside this, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the CDA Gardenia Hub, a large-scale horticulture complex developed along Park Road near the Rawal Dam flyover.
Spanning 50 acres and featuring over one million plants, the facility is among Asia’s largest public-sector nurseries, aimed at promoting sustainable landscaping and environmental conservation in Islamabad.