Islamabad: Three motorway projects being constructed under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) have almost reached completion and will be ready for inauguration very soon, a news source reported. The National Highway Authority (NHA) has yet to decide on the dates and the scale of the inauguration ceremonies for these projects.
The initiatives are: the 68km-long Hakla-D I Khan Motorway project, a 40km-long section of Thakot-Havelian Expressway, and the 392km-long Multan-Sukkur Motorway (M-5) project. All of these projects are expected to become operational this month.
The Multan-Sukkur Motorway project is part of the Peshawar-Karachi Motorway initiative funded by the China EXIM Bank. At present, the NHA is completing formalities to take over the finished work from the contractor.
The Hakla-D I Khan Motorway is part of a four-lane 285km-long north-south motorway which commences near Dera Ismail Khan and ends at Hakla on Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway. It is part of the western alignment projects under CPEC.
The Thakot-Havelian expressway is a two-part project from Havelina to Mansehra and Mansehra to Thakot, which was supposed to be completed in March 2020. But according to Project Director Zafer Yaqoob, a 40km stretch from Havelian to Mansehra is about to reach completion. Some technical problems are impeding the project’s opening which will soon be resolved soon, he added.
