The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the government of Pakistan Tuesday signed a loan agreement for $75 million to widen and upgrade 42 kilometers of the busy Mardan-Swabi road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. The loan agreement were signed by Country Director ADB for Pakistan Xiaohong Yang and Secretary of the Economic Affairs Division Noor Ahmed at a ceremony in Islamabad. Secretary of the Communications and Work Department, Shahab Khattak represented Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority and the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, says a press release issued here.
The financing for the new road section expands the scope of a $140 million loan for the ongoing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Road Improvement Project. The original project will improve eight sections of key provincial roads to improve transport efficiency and safety.
The additional $75 million in financing, approved by the ADB Board of Directors in December 2018, will upgrade the existing two-lane road between Mardan and Swabi to a four-lane divided road to accommodate increasing traffic demand and improve environmental resilience.
The project will also build tolling and gender-sensitive amenities including bus shelters and pedestrian facilities and will promote road safety measures as part of the capacity building efforts for the Communications and Works Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The Mardan-Swabi road spans the fertile agricultural and emerging industrial heartland of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Indus and Kabul rivers. The region boasts rich Gandhara and Buddhist archaeological and cultural heritage including the world heritage site of Takht Bhai. The upgraded road will ease traffic congestion and make travel faster and safer for tourists, commuters, and truckers in the region.-PR