Motorists raise concern over U-turns on Srinagar Highway

Islamabad : The motorists have demanded of the concerned authorities to take notice of their problems being faced by them due to U-turns on the Srinagar Highway.

Majid Ameer, a motorist, said one of the U-turns on Srinagar Highway is only benefiting to those commuters who want to go to the Islamabad International Airport, adding “It shows that it is beneficial to only very small segments of the motorists but contrary to it the majority of them are facing problems while getting to their respective destinations.”

He pointed out that the U-turn is affecting the vehicular traffic towards sectors G-9, G-10, G-11, F-10, and F-11 sectors; various universities and NESCOM as the commuters have to cover the additional distance of seven to eight kilometres to access these areas.

It is pertinent to mention here that the bikers are seen dangerously crossing the green belt along to reach the opposite side of the highway.

Abdur Rehman Shah, assistant professor at a local university, said “These U-turns are extremely dangerous. I saw a bike and car accident on March 24 with serious life-threatening injuries to the biker at one of these turns.”

The civic agency has maintained that it has saved a huge amount of money by making U-turns instead of constructing flyovers or underpasses to achieve its target.

According to the Capital Development Authority (CDA), it has managed to save over Rs. 7.5 billion by constructing three protective U-turns on Srinagar Highway and making it signal-free.

It said that the project has been completed at the suggestion of Islamabad Traffic Police and by the efforts of the engineering wing of the civic agency.

It further said it has introduced different traffic management systems to control traffic flow in the city and these protective U-turns have been made to minimise chances of accidents and ensure people never wait in long queues.