ISLAMABAD: The delayed Khana interchange is nearing completion and is expected to be finished by the end of this year.

The project was supposed to be completed in June, but according to Capital Development Authority spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali the interchange will now be completed by the end of December.

“Around 90pc of the construction is complete. We are hopeful the project will be completed in December,” he said.

The Khana interchange is part of the first phase of the expansion of Islamabad Expressway – from Zero Point to the Koral interchange. The CDA has already completed the I-8, Sohan and Koral interchanges under this project.

A CDA engineer involved in the project also said it was in its final stage, in which girders are being placed.

Interchange is expected to be completed by end of this year, CDA official says

“If it all goes as planned we will complete this project in December,” he said, adding that there are no issues regarding the flow of funding since the authority is executing the project with its own resources.

The first phase of this project has been executed by the CDA using its own funds, but the authority does not have the funds for the onward expansion of the expressway from Koral to the G.T. Road.

The previous government had allocated Rs10 billion for the unapproved project, but the PTI-led government withdrew funding for all unapproved projects when it came to power.

Sources in the CDA told Dawn efforts are being made to secure funding from the federal government to continue the expansion.

“If funds are not released, it will be difficult for us to execute the project from Koral to the G.T. Road,” the CDA engineer said.

Service road

The CDA has completed initial work on a service road east of the expressway – on the left when travelling from Islamabad towards Koral – and it will cost an estimated Rs450 million, a CDA official, who asked not to be named, said.

A service road is needed in this area. There is currently a dilapidated road from Sohan to the Shakrial stop, but the service road ends near Shakrial due to a petrol station and its access road.

Although the second portion of the service road begins after the petrol station, it does not connect to the first.

“We are aware of this issue,” the CDA official said. “There is need for a proper service road and we have completed our initial work on this. An estimated Rs450m is required for the service road project.”

He said it has not yet been decided whether the service road will be constructed after Khana interchange is completed or if it will be carried out in the future.

The project to widen the expressway was inaugurated by then prime minister Nawaz Sharif in July 2015. Under the original PC-I, it was to be widened to five lanes from Zero Point to the G.T. Road in Rawat in one go, with service roads. The CDA changed the PC-I a few months after it was inaugurated and decided to execute the project in phases.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2018