ISLAMABAD: Kashmir Highway expansion work to begin next month

Expansion and rehabilitation work on Kashmir Highway will kick off next month that will be another mega project to be executed by Capital Development Authority (CDA) this year.

A senior CDA official told this news agency on Monday that execution of the project was expected by third week of next month and would incur almost double cost of the Zero Point Interchange project costing Rs 2.34 billion. He said under the project, the highway would be expanded and rehabilitated from Peshawar Morr to Golra Morr. He said the project was yet in tendering phase, as the authority had already short-listed eight firms. He said the project also includes the rehabilitation and expansion of four existing bridges, as the highway was going to be widened up to five lanes. He said the completion of project could take several years.

After completion of the project, he said, the federal capital would have two five-lane highways, as widening of Islamabad Highway to five lanes was already underway. The widening of Islamabad Highway will be completed by December, the official said, adding, the highway would be made signal-free from Faizabad to Rawat. The CDA official said the short-listed companies had been directed to submit their bids within next 17 days. Some of the shortlisted companies, including Habib Rafique, Matracon and Sachal Construction, are already engaged in construction projects in the city.

He said the CDA would finalise process of the firm’s shortlisting within a couple of weeks to hire a suitable firm. He said the authority was constructing Zero Point Interchange from its self-generated budget, while 50 percent of the project cost of Kashmir Highway would be borne by the federal government. App 16/9/2008