KARACHI, March 1: A 24-kilometre long elevated signal-free expressway – from Jinnah Bridge-Native Jetty to Quaidabad – will be constructed in three years at an estimated cost of US $225 million.

The city government’s gigantic project to be known as a signal-free corridor will pass through the M T Khan Road, Club Road and Sharea Faisal.

The project on its completion will not only reduce travelling time by 40 per cent but would also bring an end to the hardships, which motorists usually face on Sharea Faisal and its adjacent arteries in the wake of VIP movements.

The 24-km long and 25-metre wide expressway will have three lanes on either side with six interchanges to be provided at the Quaidabad, Star Gate, Shahrah-i-Quaideen, Hotel Metropole, Habib Ibrahim Rahomtoola Road (Karsaz) and Jinnah Bridge (Native Jetty).

An agreement to this effect was signed on Wednesday between the city government and a Malaysian firm – IJM Corporation Berhad – which was assigned the task of implementing the project in two phases.

The Governor, Dr Ishratul Ibad, attended the ceremony as a witness to the agreement. Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil, town nazims and senior city government officials were also present.

The City Nazim, Syed Mustafa Kamal, signed the agreement on behalf of the city government while the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysian firm, Dato Jr Goh Chye, was the signatory on his firm’s behalf.

Speaking on the occasion, Kamal said the city government had invited expression of interest/proposals in mid-January from international construction companies/consortiums for construction of an elevated expressway on annuity/concept basis.

After a thorough evaluation, the city government issued expression of intention (EOI) on Feb 17 this year to the said Malaysian company for implementation of the project in two phases, he said.

He said it was heartening to note that the firm, which had been assigned the task of implementing the project, would finance the entire project. In return, it would be entitled to collect toll tax from vehicles and persons using the expressway.

Highlighting the salient features of the project, he said the expressway would serve as the Southern bypass, as it fells on the National Highway, as well as on the way to the airport.

Terming Karachi ‘a viable market in the region’, the nazim said the expressway would help boost the country’s economy, besides giving relief to motorists from traffic jams, which often occurred due to movement of dignitaries on Sharea Faisal.

He said the city with a population of 14 million and spread over an area of 1,800 sq-km had a long network of main roads/arteries, sub-roads, etc, and with the growing population, the number of vehicles was also increasing day by day.

He said Sharea Faisal was one of the major arteries of the city, carrying a heavy volume of traffic due to its inter-connections at various points.

Besides, a large number of commuters proceeding to and from the Quaid-i-Azam International Airport also use the road. The traffic volume on its various intersections range from 121,641 to 258,005 vehicles during 16 hours in a day while during peak hours, most of the intersections reach the saturation level.