Infrastructure : PM to lay foundation stone of eastern bypass

“The construction cost is Rs17 billion. Rs11 billion has been allocated for land acquisition," says NHA spokesperson

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharis is likely to lay foundation stone of Lahore Eastern Bypass on Friday.

Talking to The Express Tribune, National Highway Authority (NHA) spokesman Kashif Zaman said the project would connect Lahore Ring Road to Grant Trunk Road and M-2 through Kala Shah Kaku Interchange. He said the project would be completed in two years.

“The construction cost is Rs17 billion. Rs11 billion has been allocated for land acquisition,” he said.

Land would be acquired from the Lahore Development Authority, Pakistan Railways and the Irrigation Department, the spokesman said.

The proposed bypass is located on the eastern side of Lahore, at the foot of the GT Road. The bypass will start near Mehmood Booti Interchange and end at Kala Shah Kaku interchange which is a junction of N-5/M-2.

The length of the bypass is 16.75 kilometres and will have six lanes.

The bypass is designed to facilitate N-5 (national highway) traffic destined for eastern and southern Lahore, reduce traffic load on Ravi Bridge and N-5 and to provide a take-off point for Lahore-Sialkot Expressway.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2016.