Expansion of Islamabad Expressway – An important update

The expansion of the Islamabad Expressway is one of the most important projects undertaken by the Capital Development Authority (CDA). Delays have been causing problems for commuters, but it seems that the authority may have found some help.
When it was conceived back in 2007, the project aimed to fix the existing – and future – traffic issues. Also called the Signal-free Corridor, the path connects Zero Point in Islamabad to Rawat on the Grand Trunk (GT) Road, offering a wider route to traffic entering and exiting the city.
The 28-kilometre long and five-lane-wide signal-free corridor was to be completed in four phases. The avenue between Zero Point and the Gulberg-Greens Interchange was completed during the first two phases. But the patch between Rawat and Gulberg-Greens Interchange is facing delays, and causing problems for commuters.
Following in the footsteps of Gulberg Islamabad, the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and Naval Anchorage have volunteered to construct dedicated interchanges on the Islamabad Expressway. Reportedly, the two developers approached the CDA seeking permission to construct the interchanges at their respective entry points of their societies, which fall on the Expressway. According to CDA sources, these proposals have been approved.
The fate of many housing societies, including DHA Phase II & V, DHA Valley, Naval Anchorage, Canyon Views and many others, depends on the under-construction signal-free corridor. Once the corridor is completed, the travelling distance for residents living in these societies will reduce significantly. Furthermore, if the pace of development work on the project picks up pace, the volume of real estate investment in surrounding housing societies will also increase.
In anticipation of the project’s completion, many investors and genuine buyers have already purchased plots in housing societies that fall on both sides of the Islamabad Expressway. With the project facing unexplained delays, people who had jumped into the game with short-term investments have inadvertently become longer-term players.
What happens now?
Naval Anchorage’s management has submitted its designs and is in a position to initiate development work on the interchange soon, according to sources from CDA. Reportedly, the design for the interchange DHA has proposed has also been prepared but not shared with the CDA as of yet.
Both DHA and Naval Anchorage will fund their own parts of the project and they will employ their own resources for the construction of their respective interchanges.
In the past, the CDA has struggled to arrange funds for active projects. The civic body has also auctioned plots to create development funds but none of this has seemed sufficient for the expansion of the Islamabad Expressway at least.
Even with DHA and Naval Anchorage offering to construct these interchanges, the CDA won’t find any load off its shoulders since these developments were never included in the Expressway’s original plans.
If development work on Naval Anchorage’s interchange begins soon, the CDA might also feel pressured to speed up development work on the third phase of the Islamabad Expressway.


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