One year since its birth, Bicycle Lane on Old Airport Road faces axe

2026-03-16 - 23:24

A 7-km long ‘Only Bicycle Lane’ has been removed from the Old Airport Road Rawalpindi, as facility was causing undue blockage to the commuters. Developed in 2025 on the orders of the Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the road was launched with much fanfare and claims of turning the city into a top class metropolitan city catering to the diverse needs of its dwellers. The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA), had developed the road on the instructions of the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. However, within a year, the RDA is seen removing the concrete dividers, claiming they were causing threat to the VIP movements. The 7-km-long bike lane, on both sides of the old Airport Road, was developed in February 2025 after Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz returned from Japan and launched the idea. The bike track had a width ranging from 10 to 12 feet, as per the site specifications. The initiative aimed to improve road safety and provide a safer, more organized route for motorcyclists. However, very few motorcyclists used this lane leaving it quite redundant. The bike lane too was constructed on the extreme left side of the road and it was difficult for motorcyclists to take a right turn to housing schemes along the road,” said Mohammad Saleem, a motorcyclist. Khalid Nawaz, a resident of Shah Khalid Colony, said that motorcyclists had to take a left turn from Koral Chowk interchange which increased the total distance from the Airport Chowk to Shah Khalid Colony U-Turn. He said that this was the main reason the bike lane was not considered useful and the traffic police also realized this and did not force bike riders to use the lane. On the other hand, an RDA senior official confirmed that the concrete blocks were being removed from the old Airport Road and in place of these, cat-eyes would be installed so that cars and other vehicles would this part of the road as well. He also said that bikers did not use the lane. He said the old Airport Road was important for VIP movements and the concrete blocks hampered the traffic during such movements. He said that the old airport was still being used for VIP air travels. An official said the RDA also planned to reconstruct the road and the scheme had been sent to the Punjab government for approval. He said that earlier a survey was conducted on other roads but none was found feasible for separate bike lanes. When contacted, RDA spokesman Mohammad Irfan also said the concrete blocks would be removed and replaced with cat-eyes to make it easy for other vehicles to use the sides of the road during rush