National Highway Authority (NHA) has approved widening and upgrading of Jaglot – Skardu road, estimated cost Rs31 billion. Approval was granted during a recent NHA Executive Board meeting. 164km road would be completed in three years.
The route would be improved and widened and sharp curves smoothened to reduce time and making travelling safer.
The meeting also approved packages for Islamabad Metro Bus track – an 8km track from Peshawar Mor to G-13 costing Rs6.5bn and a 3.8km track from G-13 to N-5 Interchange costing Rs5.5bn.
NHA assured all available resources would be utilised to ensure quality and timely completion of the project.
PC-1 for construction of a 4-lane and 1.2km bridge worth Rs7bn over the Indus connecting Dera Ismail Khan and Kalorkot was also approved. It would have access roads on both sides.
Furthermore, construction of a wide network of motorways and highways under China- Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also came under discussion. Out of 13 planned motorways, four including Peshawar-Islamabad (M-1), Islamabad- Lahore (M-2), Pindi Bhattian -Faisalabad (M3), and Faisalabad- Gojra (M-4) were already operational, the rest with an overall length of 2,000km would be completed in next 2-3 years. This includes Thakot- Havelian (120km), Havelian- Hassanabdal (53km), Hakla- D.I. Khan Expressway (280km), Lahore- Abdul Hakeem Motorway (230km), Multan -Sukkur Motorway (393km) and Gojra -Shorkot Motorway (62km).
