Easing traffic: City managers mull over ‘ring road’ along Margallas

ISLAMABAD: Out-of-towners heading to Murree might be getting a way to avoid traffic in the twin cities, as the Capital Development Authority (CDA) is planning to develop a signal-free highway along foothills of Margallas. The 32-kilometre-long Margalla Highway will connect the motorway with the Murree Expressway some three kilometres ahead of Bhara Kahu. The road will pass through the north east edge of the city behind C, E and F series sectors. It will run parallel to Khayaban-e-Iqbal, commonly known as Margalla Road behind Sector F-6 and touch Murree Road near Kot Hathyal village. The highway would be constructed on the existing alignment of the under-construction Margalla Avenue. Around 50 per cent of work on the nine-kilometer long Margalla Avenue, which was to connect sector D-12 to GT Road near Sangjani, has already been completed. “Now, Margalla Avenue will not culminate at D-12, but will extend up to Kot Hathyal, two kilometres from Murree Expressway,” a CDA official said. The project, forwarded by the federal government, is at its planning stage and believed to have been fast-tracked following prime minister’s meeting with the CDA chairman a few days ago, he said. The master plan of Islamabad provides for construction of the highway and the CDA has now undertaken the project in the face of traffic congestion on most major arteries of the capital. Once completed, the highway will also serve as a dividing point between Zone-II and Zone-III of the capital. For the CDA, it would be a big task to take possession of land behind the E-series of sectors, as most of this land is under the control of the armed forces and without their consent, it would be impossible to execute the project. However, the authority has been facing some problems owing to the faulty alignment of Margalla Avenue, which will become the base point of Margalla Highway. “During the previous regime, the CDA kicked off the Margalla Avenue project in haste and its alignment was deliberately altered for obvious reasons which made the project difficult to execute,” the official commented. CDA Member Planning and Design Waseem Ahmed Khan told The Express Tribune that the project was at its preliminary stage. He said that the master plan of Islamabad provides for construction of the highway, however, he did not share further details. Published in The Express Tribune, February 14th, 2014.