Broken, patchy stretch of Islamabad Expressway requires repairs

Islamabad : A long stretch of the most busy traffic artery in the capital; Islamabad Expressway, is in state of utter shambles, demanding swift attention from the city mandarins to ease the chronic traffic congestion and smoothen the daily influx and outflow of traffic.

The two lanes highway on each side from Gulberg Housing Society entrance upto Rawat had developed cracks and large potholes, at points the complete surface of the road had been eroded, turning the huge stretch of road bumpy and accident-prone.

The frequent motorists shuttling on this road have to slow down their vehicles due to the unexpected surface; the situation gets more compounded as the heavy vehicles occupying the narrow two lanes on each side keep on negotiating the bumps and humps in haphazard manner.

The recent monsoon downpours have also exposed the surface, especially after crossing the Korang nullah bridge upto Naval anchorage society.

"Crossing this rutted stretch of road really tests a driver’s skills as hitting the road is not an easy affair, Manzoor Bhatti,” a bank official commented.

Suffyan Dilawar, a daily commuter and resident of a private society, pointed out that in the past cracked surface or potholes were filled and repaired by the concerned department, but now they had turned a blind eye towards the recurring dismal situation.

Other residents lamented that the jagged surface was also resulting in frequent damages to vehicles. The damaged trucks carrying heavy material could be spotted in the middle of road, after ramming into rough and sharp surfaces and thus hampering the traffic stream.