How a joy ride is turned into a mental torture can be enquired from anyone travelling fast on a smooth, wide track, and then suddenly forced to travel at a snail’s pace on a narrow road with lots of wear and tear.
This phenomenon happens daily with a large number of motorists and commuters who travel to Islamabad to earn their livelihood.
The Islamabad Highway or Expressway from Zero Point to T Chowk, portrays a dual picture. It is a complete luxury from Zero Point to Koral Chowk allowing the motorists to travel at an average speed of around 80 to 100 km/h, while those who have to travel towards GT Road have their patience tested.
The Islamabad Highway was renamed as Islamabad Expressway when the road was widened from six to ten lanes to increase the flow of traffic, but the part from Koral to T-Chowk was not repaired which left hundreds of motorists in a state of array.
Only the portion from T-Chowk to Koral Chowk was reconstructed and a cemented road was established to bear the burden of heavy weight vehicles.
The road has only two lanes, one always possessed by trucks and other loaded vehicles, while the other for the light weight vehicles.
However, trucks, in a bid to overtake each other, move to the second lane as well, forcing the small vehicle drivers to slow down.
This creates panic among the drivers who try to overtake the trucks through wrong side, increasing the chances of accidents.
“It is so frustrating when both the lanes are possessed by trucks which openly violate the traffic rules and force us to travel at a speed of 10 to 20 km/h,” said Yasir Azim, a resident of Soan Gardens.
There are about 15 housing societies located on the highway and most of the people living there use the road on a daily basis.
This results in bumper to bumper movement of vehicles during peak hours. The situation, it is feared, would become worse in next two to three years following the complete development of the societies which are still under under-developed.
“The ratio of traffic violations is quite high on the road, primarily because of the public transport drivers,” said a traffic police official Nazir Ahmad.
Moreover, the trucks and other heavily laden vehicles break down in the middle of the road causing severe hindrance to the motorists.
Due to this, it usually takes around half an hour to cover a distance of about 12 kilometers from Koral Chowk to
Kak Pul while the same distance from Zero Point to Koral Chowk is covered in 15 minutes.
The dilapidated condition of the road is also a matter of concern. The charcoal, accumulated at a number of points, is quite dangerous for the motorcyclists as it gives them little room to travel.
Another strange fact about this portion of the highway is that street lights installed on the road were removed few years ago for unknown reasons making it more difficult for the motorists to drive at night.
Engulfed with dense fog at night, the highway posed a real challenge to the public this winter as driving in foggy condition without street lights was very unsafe.
“Yes, lack of street lights on the road is a big issue. I work during the evening in a call centre and normally return home at about 12 am. Few days ago, when fog swamped the twin cities and the visibility was almost zero, I escaped hitting the green belt numerous times,” said Asif Hussain, a resident of Korang Town.
“It is a hectic and dangerous task to drive the car on this road primarily due to the heavy traffic and the rash driving of public transport drivers,” said Naveed Arshad, a resident of Police Foundation Housing Society.
When contacted, a CDA official said, “There is no immediate plan of widening or repairing of the road, however, discussions in this regard were in progress and the project could be initiated following the approval of the Joint Venture Ordinance.”
He said the project was likely to be started and implemented on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis and the street lights would be reinstalled on the highway in the next six months.
