The Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway would be completed by the end of the current calendar year in all respect, however, it would be made operational for traffic from next month.
This was disclosed by Chairman National Highway Authority (NHA) Major General Imtiaz Ahmad while giving a presentation on ongoing and planned projects of the authority in NWFP and FATA to Governor Lieutenant General (Retd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai here at Governor's House on Wednesday.
He said that construction work on 51-kilometer long four-lane expressway would commence early next year and would be completed by December 2011 at a cost of Rs 11 billion approximately. Governor Lieutenant General Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai (R) laid stress on to expedite work on the road projects by the authority that were over due for completion.
The Chairman NHA gave an overview of NHA, its mission, tasks and objectives also dilated on the Authority's projects in NWFP including Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway, Indus Highway, National Highway, Peshawar Torkham Expressway and Peshawar Northern Bypass. Chief Secretary NWFP Sahibzada Riaz Noor, Additional Chief Secretary NWFP Ghulam Dastagir Khan, Additional Chief secretary FATA Javed Iqbal, Secretary to Governor Azmat Hanif and Secretary Law and Order FATA Arbab Muhammad Arif attended the presentation besides officials from the NHA.
The meeting held detail discussion on Peshawar Northern Bypass and urged the need for early completion of the project in wake of the scenario, emerging due to the operationalisation of Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway. Regarding Peshawar Northern Bypass NHA Chairman informed that the bottlenecks in the project were being sorted out in collaboration with the provincial government.
He said that the project was entrusted to NHA in 2003 and initially 26 km long road was designed to be constructed as part of Peshawar Ring Road project. Now, he added to start with the project that has already delayed for more than four years, an alternate design, has been prepared.
According to the new design it will be a four lane 34 KM long expressway that will link the Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway from end point with Peshawar Torkhan expressway at the start point and will bypass Hayatabad, Bara markets to terminates at Takhta Beg Bridge near Jamrud.
The project will cost Rs 5313 million and completed in three years period. Regarding Lawari Rail Tunnel, the chairman said that 34 percent work on main Tunnel and 66 percent on link roads on both sides of the Tunnel had been completed.
The project costs Rs 8 billion and would be ready by September 2008.
The Governor took keen interest in the rehabilitation of Peshawar Nowshera Road and reconstruction of Dargai-Chakdara-Dir-Chitral road and urged that NHA should expedite work on these projects to ensure their early completion.