Renovated IJP Road: A boon or bane to road-users?
The IJP Road is one of the busiest roads in the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area that literally divides the capital city of Islamabad and the garrison city of Rawalpindi. It also serves as a route for traffic coming from Punjab to Azad Kashmir and on the other side towards Taxila, Attock, and onwards to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. It is named IJ Principal Road because it is the road that lies between Sector I of Islamabad and the never-developed Sector J on the Rawalpindi side.
It starts at Rawalpindi-Peshawar Road (GT Road) in the west and ends at Faizabad Interchange in the east, where it meets the Islamabad Expressway and the Murree Road. The total length of the road is 10.2 kilometers.
Over the years, several potholes had appeared on the road due to the heavy traffic including stone- and cement-laden trucks moving towards Azad Kashmir and the Rawalpindi-Lahore GT Road.
In 2021, the federal government launched the work to rebuild and widen the dual carriageway by adding two additional lanes on either side. The original cost of the project was Rs6.5 billion, but the scope of the project was expanded which resulted in an increase in its cost while Rs120 million were additionally earmarked for environmental protection and conservation. The renovation would also add three flyovers; at the Double Road, Katarian and Pirwadhai. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif renamed the traffic artery as Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed Road and inaugurated it during his first tenure in 2023.
So, there lies a renovated, wide road to facilitate the residents by ensuring smooth flow of traffic. A close monitoring of daily traffic patterns on the road, however, identifies several hazards and safety deficiencies due to imprecise road design and layout.
The two-lane concrete portion of the road has been constructed with a large number of seams. These seams not only affect the comfort of driving but also pose a serious risk to the road-users, especially bikers. To the attention of high ups, there also lives a sharp edge that divides the asphalt and concrete portion of the road, making it highly risky for the bikers to change lanes. Initially, this all-long edge was covered with road studs but with the passage of time, the studs are vanishing and the edge is becoming more exposed and dangerous for the bikers. A biker can hardly escape a slip while changing lanes.
Lack of overhead crossings: The road lies in an urban area with a large number of pedestrians daily crossing the road at several points. The crossing at undesignated points could have been checked by providing proper overhead structures/ underpasses but interestingly, the overhead pedestrian bridges, if there are a few, have been erected at locations quite away from the popular crossing points. One can find two such pedestrian bridges between Mandi Morr and the Khayaban-e-Sir Syed area where both facilities are set up quite away from the established crossing points. With a lack of overhead crossings and the vehicular traffic moving at a high speed, the pedestrians, especially students and elderly ones, risk their lives while crossing the road. It is to mention here that a large number of school children and others risk their lives while crossing the road at Bangash Colony, Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Katarian and Mandi Morr points. Furthermore, the overhead steel bridges have been designed so as to serve both pedestrians and bikers but being a narrow path, they are more of a mess.
Lack of slips/ exits: A detailed review of the Road suggests that on the over 10km-length, there are only three slips/ exits. The first at the Faqeer Appi Road (Metro Road bridge), second at Khayaban-e-Sir Syed and the third at Pindora/ Double Road, making the traffic converge at these points before leaving the road. Interestingly, there is no exit at the designated Mandi Morr stop where almost 90 percent of the passengers disembark to get to the service lane. But they will find no exit before the I-10 sector. The convergence of traffic and rush at the very few exit points leads to complications and mishaps, especially while changing lanes.
No lane discipline: Two concrete lanes had been added to the artery so that heavy traffic doesn’t damage the asphalt lanes. But there is no enforcement of lane discipline with heavy traffic using fast lanes with impunity, especially at night. Cracks and bumps have already started appearing on the asphalt lanes due to the goods transport. Dumpers proudly flout lane discipline with the law-enforcing agencies appearing in the night just to “check” the public transport, loaders while staying at the designated points like Faqeer Aipee Road and sector I-10 exit.
Ill-designed U-turns: U-turns are sufficient in number but that have been designed so narrowly – despite having enough space available on the sides – that a turning vehicle essentially affects the oncoming traffic.
Violation of lawful speed limit: Speed is a critical factor affecting safety. Heavy traffic hardly cares about the speed limit. Furthermore, public transport stops whenever and wherever it gets a signal. Random stopping by public transport along the roadway creates additional side friction for vehicles in the adjacent lane and disruption due to vehicles entering and leaving from the parking spaces to the traveled lane, thereby affecting the overall safety and efficiency of the roadway.
No doubt, road-user behaviour is key in smooth and safe commuting. To ensure safety of road-users, there should be more pedestrian overhead bridges or underpasses, more exits/ slips and more lane discipline and speed limit enforcement. Though the renovated IJP Road is a big boon to the residents but still a slight bane as convenience comes at the cost of human lives.