Islamabad’s Murree Road is Getting an Underpass for Major Traffic Relief

On Thursday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif officially laid the foundation stone for the Murree Road underpass, a critical infrastructure project aimed at linking Murree Road with Srinagar Highway. Upon completion, the project will make Srinagar Highway, from Islamabad International Airport to Muzaffarabad, completely signal-free.

The new underpass is expected to resolve long-standing traffic issues faced by residents of Murree and the surrounding areas. Previously, traffic coming from Murree and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) had no direct access to the Srinagar Highway, forcing motorists to go through the Kashmir Chowk roundabout. This often resulted in traffic congestion and delays.

The new underpass will provide smoother and direct entry to the Srinagar Highway, benefiting daily commuters from Murree, Bhara Kahu, and nearby areas.

The project, which is part of the larger Serena Interchange initiative, is expected to be completed by the end of next month. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs. 900 million.

Once completed, vehicles coming from Murree and heading towards Faizabad will be able to access Srinagar Highway directly through the underpass, bypassing the congestion at Kashmir Chowk. The project also involves widening Murree Road from Lake View Park to the underpass to accommodate the growing traffic volume.

Legal and Administrative Details

The project is being executed as an extension of the earlier Serena Interchange project, which was completed in February this year for Rs 4.2 billion. CDA officials confirmed that the project was authorized under the existing contract, utilizing a 15% variation clause, which legally covers additional work. This approach was approved by the CDA board to save time, avoiding the need for a new tendering process.