Aleem orders NHA to work with foreign experts on road engineering, highway design

Communications Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has told the National Highway Authority to bring in foreign experts to upgrade road engineering and highway design, Dawn reported. At a Wednesday meeting reviewing the agency's projects, revenue, road safety and development work, he said protecting lives must come first. He also raised concerns over the M-4 and several other highways, calling for roads that are safe, comfortable and built to modern global standards.

Officials were told to apply global best practice so new motorways are safer and more comfortable for drivers. Aleem added that the NHA had met a revenue goal set two years ago and would now build new roads using income from existing sources. He also said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is due to open major schemes in the coming months, among them the Lodhran-Multan Expressway, the Peshawar Northern Bypass and the Pindi Bhattian-Faisalabad Motorway expansion.

Work on the Sialkot-Kharian Motorway is progressing fast, and construction has begun on the N-25 Karachi-Quetta-Chaman Expressway. Aleem also ordered immediate steps to improve the poor condition of the Lahore-Gujranwala GT Road. The NHA's network covers only 3.13 per cent of national roads, yet carries over 80pc of traffic, and the meeting agreed to seek Rs108 billion from the federal government for Balochistan projects.