ISLAMABAD: The eight-kilometre-long service road along Islamabad Expressway, full of ditches and potholes, has been in a dilapidated condition for long.

The journey for hundreds who take this route from Faizabad to Koral every day becomes all the more strenuous but the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is yet to take steps to overhaul the road.

For the fiscal year 2020-21, the CDA had earmarked Rs500 million for rehabilitation of the road and tenders were also called. But all of a sudden, the process was stopped.

Murad Hussain, a resident of Iqbal Town, said that potholes keep emerging on the road due to lack of maintenance.

“Now, it has become impossible to drive on it. But having no other option, we will have to use it,” he said and requested the CDA to begin work on it.

The road is divided in two parts: the first part is from Faizabad to Pindoria where it meets a dead end due to the elevated expressway link with a petrol station and the second part begins at Pindoria and ends at Koral.

During a visit to the Pindoria stop, Dawn noticed motorists turning to wrong sides of the busy expressway which puts the lives of so many at risk.

According to CDA officials, as per the PC-I, the road would be widened up to 36 feet. They said the project to widen the road was stopped last year as the civic agency decided first to focus on the main expressway before starting work on the service road.

“Expressway is our priority. We have constructed PWD underpass while widening of Korang Bridge is underway. Meanwhile, we recently opened bids for awarding contract of the two km portion of the road from Koral to PWD,” an official said, adding after completion of these projects, we will begin work on the service road.

Earlier this month, Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and National Logistics Cell (NLC) had submitted their bids to get the contract for construction of the road from Koral to PWD, including construction of a bridge. CDA officials said FWO’s bid of Rs2.3 billion was the lowest hence the contract will be awarded to it.

“Hopefully, after acceptance of the bid, the commencement letter will be issued to FWO next week for formally starting the work,” the officer said, adding work will be finished in about 15 months.

Similarly, the official said CDA will request the federal government to allocate funds under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) to fix the remaining portion (about nine kms) of the road from PWD to GT Road.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2022