LAHORE: Toll plazas on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway remained congested and witnessed a heavy traffic flow throughout the three days of Eid, as citizens continued returning to Lahore after celebrating the festival in their hometowns.
The toll plazas resembled a parking lot, as long queues of cars were seen lined up there. The provincial metropolis, being the largest city of Punjab, offers numerous employment opportunities and most non-Lahoris prefer travelling on the motorway for going back home. Lahore becomes nearly empty, as non-Lahoris head back home to celebrate the holidays with their families. People were seen waiting to enter the provincial metropolis, as the last long weekend of the year was coming to an end.
Imtiaz, an official posted at the toll plaza told Pakistan Today, “The traffic remained like this since 10 am, it’s even difficult to switch duties between workers. I’ve entered more than a thousand cars myself in seven hours of duty”, he said.
Asad, a civil engineer hailing from Muridke, said that it always feels good to return to Lahore and resume day-to-day work. The M-2 links the provincial capital to other major cities of Punjab. Once the M2 crosses the Ravi River, it diverges from the N-5, also known as the Grand Trunk (GT) Road, and heads west towards Sheikhupura.
It turns north-west and continues all the way to Kallar Kahar, where it enters the Salt Range. After the Salt Range, the M-2 turns north and ends just west of Rawalpinidi at the junction between the Islamabad Link Road and M-1.
