ISLAMABAD: Construction work on the two-kilometer stretch of the Islamabad Expressway from Korang Bridge to PWD Interchange is probably going to be delayed past the original June completion date. The CDA sources told that it might even be extended by three months. The CDA granted Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) the contract for widening the road and building a railway bridge costing more than Rs2 billion last year. According to CDA authorities, the construction is proceeding as planned and will be finished by the deadline of June this year. However, they warned that because the Railway bridge (next to the PWD junction) is a large structure, it might take longer than the expected time limit.
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The Engineer of the civic agency said, “The project could be extended for two to three months”. He added,“ Our focus is quality as the expressway is a highly busy road, therefore, we do not want to complete it in a rash manner.” An official of the CDA said that the work on the road would be completed by June this year however the Railway bridge, which is part of this 2-km road project would take extra time. The construction of Korang Bridge which is the second project of the expansion process has also faced considerable delays as it was to be completed by Dec 2021. Still, the private contractor left the work half and the CDA hired the services of the FWO later. The work on the bridge could be completed in the next couple of months.
The expansion work on the third project of the expressway i.e. GT Road Portion from PWD to Rawat is also in progress. The project is undertaken by FWO and the project cost is Rs11 billion with June 2024 as the completion deadline. Following the PWD, the four-lane motorway becomes two lanes, resulting in repair jams and traffic disruptions almost. One of the main roads in the capital city of Pakistan, it can handle both light and heavy traffic, especially between Islamabad and Lahore. Its expansion was frequently planned, but only officially began last year; today, work is being done on it. The two-lane road is being enlarged to four lanes, and after expanding is finished, the daily traffic jams that vehicles face will be significantly reduced.
