NHA Directed to Link Margalla Road with M1

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) has been given the task by the federal government to build a road (inside the city limits of Rawalpindi) to connect the recently constructed Margalla  Avenue with the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M1). The total distance from Margalla Avenue to M1 is 3.4 km. 1.8 km is in Rawalpindi, and 1.6 km is in Islamabad. The CDA will build the portion of the road under Islamabad's control, while the NHA will build the Rawalpindi portion.

According to sources, the NHA was recently given a directive by the federal government to build the road that runs along Rawalpindi's boundary. The government will fund NHA for the project. The government has allocated Rs1.5 billion for the project in the PSDP 2023–24 for the Communication Division. The project will cost Rs3 billion in total. 

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The CDA has already begun construction on the section of the capital's road, and a few months ago, it appointed a consultant for the road's design named Engineering Consultancy Services Punjab (ECSP). The PC-I, worth Rs2.6 billion, has also been approved by the CDA's Development Working Party (DWP). According to CDA officials, the consultant is now finishing up its work and will share a report with the CDA once the thorough engineering is complete in order to move forward with soliciting bids.

However, they claimed that private land within the CDA's boundaries had not yet been purchased. Officials from the CDA claimed that the road was essential to maximizing the benefits of Margalla Avenue because it would not only connect to M-1 but also to the CPEC road. The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) was requested to complete the construction on the area within its jurisdiction in 2021 after the then-prime minister Imran Khan urged the CDA to develop the road that falls within Islamabad's limits.

The new section of the five-kilometer-long road from D-12 to E-11 will also be connected to Margalla Avenue, which runs from GT Road to D-12 and ends there. In the meantime, the CDA is also preparing to build 11th Avenue, which will run from E-11 to Srinagar Highway, in an effort to ease traffic on Margalla Avenue and other routes.