Rajbagh footbridge to turn motorable with twin-level design

Srinagar, Nov 4: The Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to redevelop the Rajbagh footbridge over River Jhelum near the Silk Factory into a two-storey bridge— with one level for pedestrians and another for vehicles.

A senior Roads and Buildings (R&B) Department official confirmed that the government has directed preparation of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the project.

“We have been asked to prepare a DPR and submit it to the government for funding and other formalities. The idea is to have a two-storey structure — one level dedicated to pedestrian movement and the other to vehicular traffic,” the official said.

The decision follows growing public demand to make the bridge motorable, amid mounting traffic congestion in Srinagar where vehicle growth has far outpaced road expansion.

Originally designed as a motorable bridge to ease movement between Rajbagh and the city centre, the project was converted into a pedestrian bridge by the PDP-BJP government just before completion, despite being constructed at a cost of Rs 12 crore.

An engineer involved in the construction said the bridge can easily be reconverted for vehicles. “It has the foundation and design strength of a motorable bridge. Turning it into a footbridge was a last-minute political decision that made little technical or financial sense,” he said.

“It costed Rs 12 crore, whereas a footbridge could have been built for just Rs 1–2 crore.”

The Institution of Engineers (India), J&K Chapter, had also recommended that the bridge be built as a motorable one in line with its original proposal. “A motorable bridge with a soffit level of 1589 metres instead of 1590.30 metres would reduce the approach elevation and meet current urban mobility needs,” the body noted. The 2012 NOC from the Irrigation and Flood Control Department had fixed the highest flood level (HFL) at 1586.82 metres with a two-metre freeboard, later revised to 1589.14 metres after the 2014 floods.

According to a survey by RITES, the 120-metre-long bridge with three spans will connect Polo View Road with Rajbagh near the Convent School, easing pressure on the adjacent Abdullah Bridge, where traffic jams are frequent during rush hours.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, speaking during the inauguration of the upgraded Boulevard Road, confirmed the plan.

“The bridge near the Silk Factory in Rajbagh was originally conceived as a motorable structure during my earlier tenure but was later downgraded to a pedestrian bridge for reasons best known to successive regimes. We now plan to make it motorable again — a two-storey bridge with one level for pedestrians and another for vehicular movement,” he announced.