Rawalpindi Ring Road Opening Delayed for Ninth Time
The Rawalpindi Ring Road will not open on schedule. The Rawalpindi Ring Road Authority has postponed the project’s inauguration for the ninth time and has decided not to announce another date for the ceremony.
The authority will now hold the inauguration on just 24 hours’ notice. Officials plan to open the road to general traffic before the formal ceremony takes place.
The delay is the latest in a project that has dragged on for 24 years. The cost has climbed again, crossing Rs52 billion during the current week after previously reaching Rs51.32 billion.
Rawalpindi Ring Road: what is still unfinished
Construction crews have yet to complete one interchange. Contractors also need to finish the toll plazas, toll booths, the computerised toll collection system and the weighing stations.
The Rawalpindi Ring Road Authority has directed the contractors to complete the remaining interchange and the entire toll collection system, including the booths, by the end of this month.
Officials who repeatedly announced inauguration dates despite incomplete construction have faced severe reprimands. Following the reprimands, they have stopped commenting on the matter.
The pattern explains the authority’s new approach. Rather than set a tenth date that the work may miss, it will wait until the road is ready and then give a day’s notice. Traffic will come first, and the formal opening will follow.
Cost keeps climbing
Repeated delays have pushed the project’s estimated cost higher. The cost had previously reached Rs51.32 billion before crossing Rs52 billion again during the current week, and the remaining work on the interchange and toll systems will add more before the road opens.
Former prime minister Imran Khan laid the project’s foundation stone in March 2022. Construction began in September 2023, after delays linked to changes in the political setup, land acquisition issues and redesigns.
The road in numbers
The Rawalpindi Ring Road is a 38.3-kilometre, six-lane controlled-access highway between Rawalpindi and Islamabad. It will start from Banth, on GT Road (N-5) near Rawat, and end near the Thalian interchange on the Lahore-Islamabad Motorway (M-2).
The project will have five interchanges at Banth, Chak Beli Khan, Adiala Road, Chakri and Thalian. The Rawalpindi Development Authority oversees the project, and the Frontier Works Organization is handling the construction work.
The road is designed as a bypass corridor for traffic that now passes through Rawalpindi. It will link the GT Road with the motorway network close to the New Islamabad International Airport, taking through-traffic out of the city’s congested roads. Asphalt work now covers the full 38.3-kilometre stretch.
Why the opening matters
Rawalpindi’s roads carry heavy traffic between the GT Road, the motorway and the airport. A working ring road would give that traffic a direct route and ease pressure on the city’s main roads.
The link to the airport matters too. The city recently gained a new road link between the airport and the M-1 Motorway, and the ring road would complete another piece of the region’s road network.
Other road projects are moving at the same time. The National Highway Authority has four public-private road projects under way, including the M-10 and the Mansehra-Chilas route, while the Sambrial-Kharian Motorway and the Karachi-Rohri railway track are also in progress. A Chinese company is rehabilitating the N-5 highway in Sindh.
For Rawalpindi’s commuters, though, the ring road is the one that counts. Nine postponed inaugurations have left them waiting, and the authority’s silence on a new date shows how little confidence remains in the timetable.
The road will open to traffic first, the authority says. Until the last interchange and the toll system are done, that opening has no date either.
Frequently asked questions
Why has the Rawalpindi Ring Road inauguration been postponed?
The inauguration was postponed for the ninth time because construction is incomplete. One interchange, the toll plazas and booths, the computerised toll collection system and the weighing stations are still unfinished.
When will the Rawalpindi Ring Road open?
No date has been announced. The authority will hold the inauguration ceremony on 24 hours’ notice and plans to open the road to general traffic before the formal ceremony.
How much does the Rawalpindi Ring Road cost?
The cost has crossed Rs52 billion, after previously reaching Rs51.32 billion. Repeated delays have pushed the estimated cost higher.
How long is the Rawalpindi Ring Road?
The road is 38.3 kilometres long, with six lanes. It runs from Banth on GT Road near Rawat to the Thalian interchange on the M-2 Motorway, with five interchanges along the route.
Who laid the foundation stone of the Rawalpindi Ring Road?
Former prime minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone in March 2022. Construction began in September 2023.
