RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) has asked a consultant to complete the traffic survey of 20 arteries and squares in the garrison city at the earliest to assess the traffic load.

On the other hand, the consultant has sought the traffic police’s help for the study before finalising the traffic engineering plan under the Rawalpindi Master Plan project. The consultant required the police’s help to count the number of vehicles plying on the roads, as well as conduct sample interviews of motorists and commuters.

Talking to Dawn after the meeting held at the RMC office, Metropolitan Officer Shahzad Haider said roads and squares had been pointed out in the meeting after a detailed discussion and the consultant would finalise the areas for the study.

He said all the entry and exit points of the city would be inspected as well to collect data on vehicles and public transport. He said that the work on the master plan had been started, and in its first phase, data collection of traffic and roads would be conducted.

He said in the early 90s, the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) conducted a detailed study of the city roads and made comprehensive plans in this regard. However, the 2001 flood in Leh Nullah destroyed the record.

“There are four main issues in the city increasing the traffic load: encroachments, unplanned public transport, lack of parking space or plazas, and poor traffic management,” he said, adding that road expansion is not the only solution to problems relating to traffic congestion in the city,” he said.

According to the official, the Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department awarded the contract for land use and zooming plan of Rawalpindi tehsil to a private firm, Mott MacDonald Pakistan Private Limited.

He said that traffic management and transportation studies are important components of the master plan and the firm required surveys to assess the traffic load and patterns of inter and intra-city commuters.

Following the research, the firm would suggest plans for road improvement, commercialisation, and uplift. He said that after the master plan, the city would be divided into zones for industry, commercial, residential, and green areas.

It may be mentioned here that the same firm had initiated work on the master plan for two tehsils of Rawalpindi under the supervision of the RDA.

Published in Dawn, February 5th, 2023