Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: The National Highway Authority (NHA) Executive Board has approved the proposal for dualisation and improvement of Indus Highway (N-55) from Sarai Gambila to Kohat, which is about 128 kilometres and construction of a four-lane access controlled motorway of about 49 kilometres between Yarik and Sagu, said a press release issued on Thursday.

The board met at NHA head office on Thursday with its Chairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar in the chair to review progress on countrywide highway schemes, it said.

While giving details of the two projects, the NHA chairman informed the meeting that the additional carriageway between Sarai Gambila and Kohat would cost around Rs 30 billion, which includes construction of 26 bridges with one major bridge on Kurrum River, it added.

According to the statement, Indus Highway (N-55) is 1,264 kilometres long that runs along the Indus River connecting Karachi with Kohat and Peshawar via D G Khan and DI Khan.

The highway being the second largest road connection after GT Road provides an alternate North-South link, while traversing 491 kilometres in Sindh, 360 kilometres in Punjab and 396 kilometres in KP, connecting Rajanpur, DG Khan, DI Khan, Bannu, Kohat and Peshawar, it said.

However, the highway is now facing difficulties in coping with the ever increasing traffic load, especially the heavy vehicles due to its limited capacity, which has resulted in shifting some of its traffic load to GT Road (N-5), causing frequent traffic jams, it added.

The dualisation of N-55 will provide safe, quick and more efficient movement of both passenger and commercial traffic, the statement said.

As per statement, the Tarar also informed the meeting that the proposed motorway between Yarik and Sagu carried an added significance, as it will eventually become part of the under construction western alignment of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) near Yarik.

It will cost around Rs 13 billion and provide an integral connection for the backward areas of southern KP by helping agriculture and industrial activities through quick and easy access to the markets, it said.