Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to construct a bridge & underpass on Islamabad Expressway. Previously the Government had announced to expand Islamabad to 5 lane wide route. But after a cold shoulder from government, CDA has chosen this alternative because of lack of funds.
CDA’s Fund
Korang Bridge & underpass near PWD was proposed by CDA Chairman, Amer Ali Ahmed in a meeting. According to sources, Federal Government will release almost Rs.450 million in the next fiscal year. Meanwhile, CDA would add extra Rs.450 million from its own in order to start the construction of this proposal. In addition, partial expansion & maintenance of road will also be done from this proposed amount.
According to Syed Safdar Ali, CDA’s spokesperson, this immediate decision was made in order to facilitate the citizens to some extent. Full-fledged widening of 13-km route would begin once the proposed amount from government will be released. Current government has abandoned projects that does not acquire any technical approval from Public Sector Development Program.
Islamabad Expressway
Islamabad expressway is a major expressway that quickly connects Capital, Islamabad to Rawalpindi. The total length of Islamabad Expressway is 28 Km with 3 to 5 lanes. It starts from Zero-Point Interchange & ends at Rawat. This route serves as a main link for hundreds & thousands of vehicles back & forth to the Twin cities.
Islamabad Expressway Extension
The up-gradation of Expressway was announced in May, 2019. As heavy-traffic utilizes this road which often causes dead-block traffic jam & people stuck in for hours. In order to solve this issue, expansion of Islamabad expressway was announced in 2 phases accordingly.
Read About : 5-Lane Islamabad expressway from Gulberg till Rawat
Expansion project was inaugurated on July 2015 by the then PM Nawaz Sharif. In 1st phase, expressway was made signal free & widened to 5 lanes from Zero point interchange to Koral Interchange previously. 2nd phase includes the expansion of expressway into 5 lanes from Koral interchange till Rawat. However, the 2nd phase is dropped out now by CDA due to lack of funding.
It is pertinent to discuss that many popular and upscale residential schemes are situated on either sides of expressway namely DHA, Bahria Town, PWD and many others. In future, this expansion would be a game-changer for the investors in the respective residential schemes.
