Islamabad: The people travelling through the Islamabad Highway till ‘Gulberg Greens’, up and down, are indeed highly appreciative of the ‘good work’ done by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for having made this segment almost ‘Signal Free Corridor’ for commuting though they still complain a bit about the ‘crazy Sohan T-signal’.
But those continuing their journey up and down ahead of the ‘Gulberg Greens’ are always fearful of prolonged traffic jams, first at the ‘Korang Nullah’ bridge and a short way up at the ‘Railway overhead bridge’ where traffic gets clogged almost any time of the day or night.
Especially in the morning when people are rushing to their offices and children to their institutions towards Islamabad and in the evening when they head back home.
Some of these commuters spend almost half the time on this part of the road from Korang Nullah bridge to T-chowk on GT Road as compared with what they spend in their offices, schools, colleges or universities.
After a smooth and almost uninterrupted flow on the five-lane a side Islamabad Expressway till the ‘Gulberg Greens’ inter-change, the traffic suddenly comes to a grinding halt as they hit the two-lane bridge on the Korang Nullah where it takes an arrow-head shape, everybody trying to elbow the next vehicle on the side.
And if a trucker decides to over-take the other truck on this bridge, which is quite often, it leaves those behind them gritting their teeth, clenching fists and swearing in undertones or even loudly!
Once one had crossed this first hurdle, there starts the other kind of driving torture on the two-lane road ahead. The road is deeply rutted, cluttered with pits and potholes, cracked just as any one may find in a remote village.
And, as one negotiates all these things, obviously dealing with the trucks and trailers, loaded way beyond their capacity, moving at snails’ pace at the same time, there comes the second bottle-neck. The ‘Railway Overhead Bridge’, again a narrow two-lane facility! And then it is a ‘roller coaster ride’ all the way on both sides.
The problem is that the population on both sides of the Islamabad Highway beyond Koral Chowk inter-change has blown up dramatically as a large number of private housing societies have sprung up over the last couple of decades like the Bahria Town, the DHA, the Naval Anchorage, the PWD, Police Foundation, Media Town, Pakistan Town, Korang Town, and Judicial Colony to name a few prominent ones only.
It would not be a surprise at all if a survey may reveal that more people are living in these housing societies then the ones living in CDA’s sectors! And because there exists no public transport system that may provide any relief to the people living in this part of Islamabad and adjacent Rawalpindi, an overwhelming majority has to own a transport of their own, be it a bike or a car.
And they have to suffer through this nightmare of travelling up and down, at least once a day on this road to reach their work/education places and return home. And with all the heavy traffic, the passenger buses, vans, trucks and trailers also using the same road, the traffic flow is not only painfully slow but greatly risky at the same time.
So, when the government announced to turn this Islamabad Highway from ‘T-Chowk’ on GT Road right up to the Intersection on Khayaban-e-Iqbal (Margalla Road), a five-lane, signal free corridor, people were jubilant!
And when the work started immediately and first two phases were completed (from Khayaban-e-Iqbal to Karal Chowk) and three out of four signals (Karal Chowk, Khanna Pull and Garden Avenue) already removed and the one at Sohan likely to go within a month or two, people became confident that the work on the rest of the project (Korang Nullah onwards to GT Road) will also start soon.
However, there appear no signs if the CDA is in any kind of hurry to launch work on this part of the promised ‘Signal Free Corridor’ any sooner. The people in the CDA may have forgotten about this promise but people, who suffer daily on this road, have not. They are anxiously waiting for the Authority to come to their relief!
