ISLAMABAD: The contract for the expansion of Islamabad Expressway from Korang Bridge to the PWD Interchange is all set to be awarded to to Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) as it submitted the lowest bid of Rs2.3 billion on Monday.

FWO and National Logistics Cell (NLC) were the only two competitors for the project as they submitted bids worth over Rs2 billion. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had called tenders under Rule 42(f) of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA).

Under these rules, only government firms could participate in the bidding process.

“Yes, today FWO won the contract by submitting a bid of Rs2.3 billion while NLC submitted a bid of over Rs2.4 billion,” a senior officer of the authority confirmed to Dawn.

Project to be completed in 15 months, says official

“We called tenders of government companies under 42 (f) to avoid lengthy process of bidding as we wanted to get this project done through FWO or NLC for speedy completion as on a daily basis motorists face a gridlock on the portion of the road,” he said, adding now after acceptance of the bid from the authority the CDA will immediately get the project started by FWO.

Under the project, the two-km-long road from Korang Bridge to PWD Underpass and Railway Bridge will be constructed in 15 months. Earlier, on Jan 3, the CDA board had decided to get the project done through government-run construction companies.

The expressway is one of the busiest roads in Islamabad and traffic on this main thoroughfare has increased tremendously over the past few years driven primarily by the mushroom growth of housing societies along its length.

But when the four-lane highway suddenly transforms into a two-lane road at Korang Bridge, motorists have to face massive traffic jam while slow moving trucks also contribute to traffic congestion.

As a stop-gap arrangement, the CDA and Islamabad Traffic Police have been planning lane swapping (allowing traffic on wrong sides) during rush hours. Recently, both the organisations also held a meeting in this regard in which it was decided that two additional lanes of both sides will be used during peak hours.

Currently, construction work on the widening of Korang Bridge is underway and as per the extended deadline it is supposed to be completed in April this year.

CDA officials said the project was part of CDA’s priority projects as the civic agency had earmarked Rs2 billion in its budget for fiscal year 2021-22.

Separately, CDA is also in contact with the federal government to secure funding for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the upcoming financial year so that work on the remaining portion of the expressway from PWD to GT Road could be completed.

“This year, we will start expansion of the remaining portion of the almost seven-km-long road from PWD to G.T. Road to resolve the issue of traffic congestion,” said an engineer of CDA, adding the PWD Interchange had already been constructed and by April the widening of Korang Bridge will also be completed.

“With the completion of the widening of the two-km road, a major bottleneck will be removed from the expressway,” the engineer said.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2022