28 April 2010

U.S. Inaugurates $25 Million Peshawar Ring Road

Official says project will improve security, generate trade opportunities

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
April 28, 2010

MEDIA NOTE

U.S. Inaugurated $25 Million Peshawar Ring Road

On April, 27, 2010, U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson inaugurated a project to reconstruct 25 kilometers of the Peshawar Southern Ring Road at a ceremony in Peshawar, Pakistan.  The project, overseen by the State Department’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in close cooperation with the Government of Pakistan, will provide $25 million in upgrades to the important provincial thoroughfare for the purpose of strengthening security and bolstering economic development.

The inauguration of the Peshawar Ring Road project follows the signature of a Letter of Intent between Deputy Secretary of State Jacob J. Lew and Pakistan’s Finance Secretary Salman Siddique on March 25, as part of the U.S.-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue.  This project is a tangible outcome of the Strategic Dialogue and underscores the shared interests and long-term partnership between the U.S. Government and the Government of Pakistan.

The Ring Road will be widened and improved from two lanes to three lanes, including construction of service roads, green belts, center medians, and drainage on both sides.  The refurbished road will also include a bypass of the Hayatabad residential area and a transit link to the Matani bypass road, the construction of which the United States is currently supporting.

“The new Ring Road will ease traffic between Charsadda and Hayatabad, improve security, and generate greater trade opportunities,” said Ambassador Patterson.  “We are proud to partner with the Government of Pakistan to deliver this vital infrastructure that will benefit the citizens of Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (KPk) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.”

The Ring Road upgrade is part of a broader effort to construct and rehabilitate roads across KPk and the FATA.  Over the past twenty years, the U.S. has spent approximately $60 million to construct nearly 1,000 kilometers of road in KPk and FATA.