The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Pakistan have signed a loan agreement worth $75 million to widen and upgrade 42 kilometers of the busy Mardan–Swabi road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.
The loan agreement was signed by Country Director ADB for Pakistan Xiaohong Yang and Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division Noor Ahmed at a ceremony in Islamabad. Secretary of the Communications and Work Department, Shahab Khattak represented Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority and the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,
The $75 million in financing, approved by the ADB Board of Directors in December 2018, will be used to upgrade the existing two-lane road between Mardan and Swabi to a four-lane divided road to accommodate increasing traffic demand and improve environmental resilience. In addition to that the project will also build tolling and gender-sensitive amenities including bus shelters and pedestrian facilities and will promote road safety measures as part of the capacity building efforts for the Communications and Works Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.