No letup in Murree road traffic woes

ISLAMABAD: A vast majority of the residents of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad blame Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) for persistent traffic woes at Murree road.

Long queues of vehicles are seen every morning snaking up right from Marir chowk to Faizabad. Despite multiple construction flaws, Committee Chowk underpass provides a brief respite to motorists when motorists pass through with a comparative ease.

People belonging to various walks of life said Leh Expressway was need of the hour and the only solution to ease traffic burden in the city.

Muhammad Imran, a resident, said travelling on Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road required patience and bravery.

In this harsh and humid weather, the commuters have to wait for several hours to reach their destination, he added.

He said Leh expressway project should be started at the earliest to solve the traffic problems.

On Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Road, over 100,000 vehicles run on daily basis and the Leh Expressway can give relief to
the motorists.

It may be recalled that the Punjab government, after coming into power, stopped the work on the 22 km Leh Expressway which was inaugurated by General Musharraf on March 26, 2007. While an amount of Rs180 million had released for the first phase of the project. RDA had made a payment of Rs 681 million to Land Requisition Collector to obtain land for the project.

According to initial estimates the project was to be completed in March 2009 with the total cost of Rs16 billion.

The work on four points of Expressway including Amar Chowk to Murree Road, Murree Road to Gawalmandi, Gawalmandi to Ganjmandi and Ganjmandi to Dhok Ratta Amral had started in August 2007.

Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) was awarded the contract.

The then Punjab government had agreed to provide Rs8 billion for the Expressway, while federal government had agreed to pay the remaining amount.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) in June 2011, directed Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to file a written response in a petition filed for revival of Leh Expressway and Flood Channel Project that was initiated by the previous government and shelved by the current one.
(APP)