Authorities in Rawalpindi have dismantled the city’s first dedicated biker lane on Old Airport Road after the initiative failed to achieve its intended results. The project, launched to improve road safety for motorcyclists, was abandoned due to low compliance among riders.
The lane, marked in green and separated by boundary blocks, was introduced by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to encourage motorcyclists to use the leftmost side of the road. However, most riders continued to drive in the middle and right lanes, ignoring the designated path.
Despite efforts by traffic police to enforce helmet regulations, officials were unable to ensure that bikers followed the lane discipline. Over time, the lack of coordination between the RDA and traffic authorities also contributed to the project’s limited success.
As a result, authorities decided to remove the lane’s barriers using heavy machinery and merge the space back into the main roadway to ease traffic flow. The failure of this pilot project has also affected plans to introduce similar biker lanes on other major roads such as Murree Road and Peshawar Road.
Traffic experts note that motorcyclists riding outside the left lane are a major cause of road accidents. While helmet use remains important, proper lane discipline is equally critical for improving road safety.
The removal of the biker lane highlights the challenges of implementing traffic management initiatives without public cooperation and effective enforcement.
