Road project linking Margalla Avenue with E-11 to be completed by February end
Source: The Nation
ISLAMABAD - The road project to link newly-constructed Margalla Avenue with E-11 including an interchange is expected to be completed by end of this month. It was informed by the Member Engineering CDA Dr Muhammad khalid Hafiz, who said that the project is in its concluding stages and would be ready for formal inaugurations. He said though the civic authority is facing financial constraints at present but we are prioritising the public importance projects to ease the hardships faced by the commuters.
Member Engineering hoped further that the expansion and widening of Islamabad Expressway from Koral Interchange to the T-chowk would also be completed in June 2024 as the contractor has geared up the construction work on site. The work on the 5.5km road worth around Rs4 billion including an interchange was started in Dec 2022 and was to be completed by June 20 2023 but CDA failed to meet the deadline. Officials of engineering wing considered that six-month timeline mentioned in PC-I was irrational as this mega work could not be completed during this period and it was obvious that this deadline will be extended.
Last year, CDA had awarded the contract to the National Logistics Cell (NLC) against a bid of Rs3,983 million. Under the project, the 5.5km road is being constructed from sector D-12 where Margalla Avenue ends, which will culminate at Khayaban-i-Iqbal in E-11. Construction of a flyover and an interchange at E-11 is also part of the project.
After the construction of around 10km Margalla Avenue from G.T. Road to D-12 is a short cut road and after its opening in December last year, a large number of motorists are using it. However, after reaching D-12, they face difficulties. Keeping in view of expected traffic congestion, the CDA in December last year started the portion of the road to link it with E-11 and Khayaban-i-Iqbal.
Meanwhile, the CDA in June this year also decided to construct 11th Avenue, which will be linked with this road as well. Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif had laid the foundation stone of the 11th Avenue Project, but the construction work is yet to be started.
According to Islamabad's master plan, the 33-km-long Margalla Avenue starts from G.T. Road and ends after passing through the foothills of Margallas. However, CDA instead of constructing the road in one go, it divided in three small parts and major portion of the road has not been constructed as yet. In the first phase, a road was constructed from G.T. Road to D-12, while the second portion of the road is being constructed from D-12 to E-11 and Bhara Kahu bypass was constructed in the third phase.