| ISLAMABAD: In order to make roads of the federal capital secure for commuters, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has hired services of a consultant at a cost of Rs25 million for its project ‘Road Safety Audit’.
The working paper which was presented before the meeting of the CDA Development Working Party (CDA-DWP) chaired by Noorul Amin Mengal on Wednesday said the civic body was working on infrastructure development for several years. “The CDA intends to carry out Road Safety Audit of existing infrastructure which is opened for traffic to mitigate the possible traffic hazards,” read the document.
The project will be completed in five months. The safety audit will help reduce the number of accidents on the roads and this project will enhance the importance of road safety in road planning and design, the CDA added.
Multiple projects approved
The meeting also approved PC-I for the extension of Margalla Avenue from GT Road to the Motorway, the expansion of Lehtrar Road, and PC-II for the infrastructure designing of the Orchard Height Housing Scheme of the CDA.
Margalla Avenue will be linked to the motorway through the N-5 highway at a cost of Rs 2.6 billion following the construction of a new patch of road – 1.6km of this portion would be falling in the jurisdiction of Islamabad while 1.8km would fall in Pindi.
Margalla Avenue is located in the north-western part of the capital and runs parallel to the residential sectors C-13, C-14, C-15, C-16, and D-12 on the northern side. The proposed section will connect the Margalla road with M-1 to provide easy access to the motorway, the document added.
The meeting also approved PC-I titled “Widening of Lehtrar Road from Khana Bridge to Pinstech, and provision of service roads and a flyover at Trammri at a cost of Rs5.265 billion.
Affordable housing
The meeting also approved PC-II for a mixed-use housing project in Kuri Enclave, Zone-IV of Islamabad. “There are so many stalled housing projects which have resulted in quality housing backlog, skyrocketing prices and encroachment of the CDA acquired land,” the working paper said, adding that the primary objective of this project was to plan and develop a mixed-use self-sustaining project that would provide quality housing at affordable rates for all income groups.
The CDA meeting also approved PC-I regarding the construction of a guest house at Rawal Lake, Islamabad. The working paper stated: “[The] CDA had constructed [a] guesthouse in the early ’70s at [the] prime location, at the bank of Rawal Lake [on the] Banigala side, which is presently in dilapidated and demolishable condition and is insufficient to meet the requirement of [the] CDA,” it added.
The condition of the existing building is dilapidated and may cause any untoward incident, the working paper said. It added that in order to provide better facilities to guests the CDA intended to construct a new facility in the same locality having a covered area of 3500 Square feet.
It also approved PC-I for infrastructure development of the capital street on 7th Avenue at a cost of Rs1,327 million. Under this scheme, the CDA would auction 50 plots in the Art and Craft Village for food outlets. The civic agency wanted to develop the capital street in the Art and Craft village to provide allied facilities to restaurant owners and the public, the document added. The meeting also approved PC-I for the illumination of underpasses, overhead, pedestrian bridges and iconic monuments of Islamabad at a cost of Rs341 million. |
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