NHA Executive Board approves PC-1 for MMM Expressway

Islamabad

The Executive Board of National Highway Authority (NHA) has approved PC-1 for construction of all important motorway project connecting Mirpur with Mansehra via Muzaffarabad (MMM) after NHA successfully completed the feasibility and detailed design of the project, says a press release.

The project envisages constructing a 4-lane divided controlled access Expressway connecting Shinkiari - Muzaffarabad with GT road through Mangla, Mirpur. For Initial 35 km, the project would run parallel to the existing Kohalla-Muzaffarabad road along river Jehlum. From then onwards the expressway would continue on the left bank of the river till Mangla and after connecting Mirpur terminates at GT road near Dina.

The total length of the Expressway would be around 200 km with an estimated construction cost of Rs264 billion. The project includes construction of four tunnels with total length of around 3 km. Construction of 122 bridges, 260 culverts, 6 interchanges, and 3 weigh stations is also part of the project. Besides, four rest areas, including all necessary services such as mosque, workshop, gas station, tuck shop and public toilet are also proposed. The width of the main lane would be 3.65 m with 3m wide outer shoulder and 1m inner shoulder. The design speed on the Expressway would be 120 km/hr with a right of way (ROW) of 100m.

The project was included in CPEC during the meeting of CPEC's Joint Working Group on Transport held in Karachi in September and shall be finalized for financing in the next meeting of Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of CPEC.

Speaking on the occasion, NHAChairman Shahid Ashraf Tarar informed the meeting that the project carried immense economic and strategic value. It would reduce travel time from Jehlum to Mansehra from 5 hrs to two and half hrs by providing a direct access to the people travelling along Grand Trunk Road, who now have to first travel to Rawalpindi and Hasanabdal to reach Mansehra. It would also act as an alternative route for CPEC besides providing another strategic link between central Punjab and Azad Kashmir. It is a green field project that will open new vistas of development and social uplift, thus boosting the socio-economic prospects for all those areas where it would run through, he remarked.