The daily commuters on Thursday made a passionate appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for his intervention to pace up the ongoing expansion work on Islamabad Expressway Project to provide them a stress-free travel. The residents of various housing societies adjacent to Islamabad Expressway daily face gridlock for hours due to unfinished PWD interchange and expansion of Korang Bridge as the contractors Maqbool Associates and Calson left the project incomplete, saying they were unable to carry out the project due to material’s enhanced cost. Travelling on the PWD underpass was even a misery after sunset as the whole area plunges into darkness due to absence of proper lightening system. Only polls have been erected sans any connection of electricity. The project was awarded to a joint venture of Maqbool Associates and Calson in June 2020. However, the contractor stopped the work on the project demanding extra money. The commuters sought Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s special attention towards the slow pace of work on Korang bridge expansion and suspension of work on Rs420 million PWD underpass.
” We expect the prime minister like other development projects would also intervene to pace it up to ensure hassle-free traveling for hundreds of thousands of daily travellers on country’s one of the busiest artery which accommodates almost 4,20,000 daily,”said Zahoor Ahmed a daily commuter on Expressway.
“The incomplete underpass and heaps of garbage around give commuters an ugly look also exposing them to health hazards as road beautification that adds trees and landscaping was still pending”, said Rehan a frequent commuter who travels from Blue Area to Media Town vice versa daily on the route. When contacted CDA official said the civic authority was already working on expansion of Islamabad Expressway and different portions of this busy road would be completed in different phases.
