Islamabad highway becomes dangerous for travellers

14 Jul, 2004

Travel along the Islamabad highway, from zero point to Faizabad, has become all the more hazardous, with numerous accidents being reported daily due to ongoing expansion work and lack of any warning signs.
The around four kilometre stretch of the highway is being expanded from four to six lanes to ease the flow of heavy traffic between Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
The construction work though progressing at a fast pace has made the road more hazardous for the commuters.
The police have attributed the growing number of accidents on the road to the construction work and lack of warning signs placed on either side of the road.
The decision to add an additional lane was welcomed by the road users, however, the sharp increase in accidents has caused grave concern among the commuters who avoid using the road particularly during the rains.
Neither the traffic police nor the contractor had placed any warning signs to alert the motorists of the hazards ahead and to slow down the traffic.
The situation is particularly more risky for the out of town visitors who are not aware of the changed road conditions and get little warning before meeting an unfortunate accidents.
There is now almost a daily occurrence of accidents, often involving multiple cars along either side of the road.
A number of cars over the past few week have either plunged into the ditch dug at either side of the road or created multiple accidents while trying to avoid other crashed vehicles.
Motorbike users are most at risk as they not only have to navigate through the present much narrower road, avoid the concrete blocks but also the fast traffic.
According to police the number of accidents reported on the road is much less than actual as majority do not report it and treat it as an act of fate.
The motorists have also pointed to the use of heavy excavation machinery at night without any warning lights and demanded of the CDA and the contractor to immediately place warning signs all along the road.

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