Heavy traffic flow: ITP wants a ring road solely for trucks

ISLAMABAD: With the traffic police in the federal capital finding its hands full with the massive influx of vehicles in the city of all shapes and sizes, it has urged the government to build a ‘ring road’ for heavy vehicles so that they can bypass the city while heading towards their destinations in other parts of the country.

This, the Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) has argued, will lessen the traffic on the capital’s roads and make it smoother.

The ring road, the ITP has advised, should start at the Grand Trunk (GT) Road from Sangjani or Tarnol and connect to the Rawat "T" Cross. The road should be specifically for trucks, tankers and other heavy vehicles so that they can avoid the capital city area and not clog its roads.

Heavy vehicles create problems for other vehicles on the thoroughfares of the capital, particularly Islamabad Highway. There is a rush and frequent traffic jams between Gulberg and Soan Garden.

ITP officials hope that this traffic congestion can be mitigated through the construction of the ring road.

Official sources on Sunday said that since Islamabad’s declaration as the federal capital, no ring road was built for the easy passage of heavy traffic or even traffic proceeding to Lahore via Gujjar Khan and Jehlum. Due to which all the traffic ply through the Islamabad Expressway to Rawat "T" cross.

The Highway has been declared a signal-free corridor from Faisal Masjid to Koral and vehicles end up piling up on five lanes at high speed up to Koral. After Gulberg, the five lanes shrink to two lanes, causing severe traffic jams and a hindrance to smooth flow of traffic.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 22^nd, 2018.