by Shafqat Ali

Islamabad, May 3 (Gwadar Pro) - The Gwadar Eastbay Expressway project with an estimated cost of USD 168 million under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is in the final stage and it would be completed by October this year, Chairman CPEC Authority Lt. General Asim Saleem Bajwa said on Sunday afternoon.

In a tweet, he said the 14.5-kilometre offshore expressway has already been completed while the remaining 4.5-kilometre onshore road is under construction and 92 percent of work has been completed.

The Chairman CPEC Authority said the Expressway will connect the port with the second phase of the Free Trade Zone which will facilitate the business climate of the zone and the port alike. He said the CPEC project created 2000 direct jobs.

Currently, the Gwadar deep seaport is connected through a narrow 16 feet wide thoroughfare of Gwadar Town at the West-Bay. All the trawlers, trucks loaded with imported shipments pass through this strip causing disruption of normal traffic.

The port is in urgent need for a dedicated wide highway to cater to the transporting requirements of the post. The port operationalisation, even with the available three multi-purpose berths, necessitates the construction of the planned East-Bay Expressway. This 6-lane expressway along with a provision of 30-metre wide railway corridor will connect the port with the Mekran Coastal Highway (N-20) through the 2300 acres Free Trade Zone of Gwadar Port.

Recently, the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Gwadar under CPEC was informed that the Expressway will connect the port with the 2nd Phase of the Free Trade Zone (FTZ).

The six-lane Gwadar East Bay Expressway was initially planned to be completed by 2018 but has been delayed to October 2020 and again for another year.

The project is being developed as part of the ‘Early Harvest’ scheme of CPEC and is part of a wider USD 1.1 billion development package for the city and Port of Gwadar.