Twenty-eight toll plazas on the Northern Loop of the Ring Road will become active from March 8 and stop motorbikes and rickshaws from getting onto the highway for high speed traffic, said a Ring Road official.
Traffic police and Ring Road officials said they were expecting resistance from drivers of motorbikes and rickshaws to the decision, as it would mean they have to travel longer distances.
They also said it would increase security concerns among motorcyclists and rickshaws in certain areas. Sources in the police said that motorbikes and rickshaws had been allowed on the Ring Road from Karol Ghati to Pump Disposal Adda for the last year or so after there had been a spike in robberies targeting these vehicles on the service lane along the Ring Road.
Colonel (retd) Asim, who is in charge of security at the Ring Road, said that motorcycles, bicycles, scooters, carts, rickshaws and Qing Qis would not be allowed on to the Ring Road from March 8 when the 26 toll plazas on the Northern Loop, one for each exit, are activated.
Gujjarpura SHO Shahid Ali said that Muhafiz Squad officials had been permanently deployed to the Ring Road service lane to prevent robberies. He said he was confident that there would be no spike in robberies once motorbikes and rickshaws were diverted to the service lanes.
The toll will be Rs10 for cars, Rs20 for mini-buses and vans, Rs50 for AC buses, Rs60 for small trucks (popularly referred to as ‘loaders’) and three-axel trolleys, and Rs100 for larger vehicles, said Col (r) Asim.
There will be no toll on cars, however, for the road from Gulshan Ravi to Saggian Bridge while other vehicles will have to pay less. AC buses will pay Rs20 and three-axel trolleys Rs40, he said.
He said that an electronic identification system for toll payment would be introduced later but not for a while. He said 50 guards would protect property on the Ring Road while traffic would be controlled by wardens.
Col (r) Asim said that the Ring Road authorities had not been stopping slow-moving two-wheel and three-wheel vehicles from using the Ring Road because they feared it would create trouble for the traffic wardens tasked with stopping them. He said he expected an angry reaction from the public when the toll plazas are activated on Thursday and they start turning away motorbikes and rickshaws.
“People will resist the decision and probably fight with the workers at the toll booths, but it is about improving the traffic situation,” Col (r) Asim said.
Traffic police officials also said they expected motorcycle and rickshaw drivers would be angry when denied use of the Ring Road. He said there was also a lack of road crossings for bikers. He said that interchanges from where motorbikes could cross the road were spaced a minimum of two kilometres apart, while the interchanges between Niazi Chowk and Mehmood Booti were around 8 km apart.
He said that a year ago, motorcyclists travelling from Karol Ghati to Pump Disposal Adda faced an increased incidence of mobile phone robberies as they were allowed to use the Ring Road.
City Traffic SP Mustafa Hameed Malik said that it was important to remove slow-moving vehicles from the Ring Road for safety reasons as well as improved traffic flow. “It is in the larger public interest,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2012.
COMMENTS (20)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
I agree, motorcycles and rickshaws should be allowed to travel on service lanes, and not on the main carriageway, to prevent not only robberies, but traffic induced accidents. Ring Road will relieve stress on a number of inner roads at peak times.
Motor bikes should by allowed with helmet only, actually they should make a law about that. As 100s of kids die or get injured because of not wearing helmet. About Bicycle or Rickshaw yes both should be banned in highways. Its international law and here in Germany no one is allowed to drive rickshaw or even vespa on highways. We Pakistanis should learn to respect appropriate laws especially when its about security of dozens of people. There is no gain in getting excited for things which can take lives of many including rickshaw man and many other people on the high way.
@Pro Bono Publico: On the contrary I believe once more and more cars begin to use this route, alternate routes will automatically become less congested. Probably freeing up the space for rickshaw and bike owners.
Bikes should not be allowed on this road, its not good for their security in presence of high speed vehicles. Also, decreased pressure in lahore roads will help bikes and rickshaws move faster.
if someone is doing good thing, we should come out and support it. There is no shame in it
@Amjad:
these roads have a specific use. its not a matter of rich or poor. look outside the box. myopia is what we struggle with as a nation.
@hamza khan: Limit of negativity .... if cant do any thing at least learn to appreciate good things...
All around the world, ring roads and cruise speed highways are not opened for slow moving hazardous traffic. There is nothing against the 'poor' man here, trust me. So stop the biased criticism.
PS: I hate PML-N, but lets not do petty politics over every issue, be objective!
Good Job done. Service roads are available for rickshaw and for bikers and its a general practice internationally that on speedy road u do,nt allow slow vehicle to avoid accident as do,nt do on motorways.Criticising just for nothing is habit of our people.These people were criticising motorway project as well when it was under construction.
Come on, I don't know about motorcycles but vehicles as slow as Rickshaws would not be allowed on expressways anywhere in the world. It's like how donkey carts were banned on flyovers in Karachi recently... nobody complained about that and nobody should complain about this, except the donkeys, motorcyclists and rickshaw drivers I guess.
It is a good project. I support PTI, but also admire management skills of Shahbaz Sherief.
We all become over obsessed with rights of poor people, but unfortunately severely lack civic sense. Every where in the world, roads according to their structure and utility are restricted for certain type of traffic, of course there are alternative routes available, these decisions are for good of people, maximum utility and enhanced life of the utility.
... good work done ...
... howevet, in all our planning, our road-masters forget to consider the local communities through whose lives the big roads cut through ... after all, people have a right to cross from one side to the other to continue with their daily lives ...
... We see this all thr time ... follies in design, lead to people trying to change its use to suit their genuine needs ... and the Govt tries to control by policing at a high running cost ... something impossible to do!
good work. Atleast some body is active!
An absurd project with absurd management. A colossal and continuing waste of public money. I suspect that the Ring Road will not generate enough funds to pay those employed on it.
@hamza khan: I really don't care what he made because at least he gets things done and the overall infrastructure and condition of the province has improved significantly. It's much better than other provinces where nothing gets done and the leaders in power are taking funds! Great news for the people of Lahore. Look at the Motorway project they initiated which is now the preferred method of travel for countless people. I hope they keep the rickshaws etc off the Ring Road.
This is a road for the rich only. The poor on bikes, rickshaws are not allowed.
Anybody who doesn't have a car should be kicked out of Lahore. All these lazy, not so rich people traveling using rickshaw or motorbikes should be deported to the countryside(of course, this doent apply to the members of army because its their country after all!). These people travelling in rickshaw or motorbikes, are hindering the progress of this great nation by delaying well do citizens from reaching their burger joints on time.
Khadim e Aala Zindabad ..