Rawalpindi Ring Road to Open on October 28
RAWALPINDI: Preparations are under way for the inauguration of the long-awaited Rawalpindi Ring Road, with Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz expected to formally open the 38.3-kilometre project on October 28 at the Banth Interchange on GT Road, according to The Express Tribune.
Officials say the road will be opened to traffic after the inauguration ceremony, ending a wait of nearly 15 years for one of Rawalpindi’s most talked-about infrastructure projects.
Four interchanges complete
Construction of the main route is complete along with four interchanges at Banth, Chak Beli Khan, Adiala and Chakri. Work is continuing on the tolling booth system, which officials expect to finish before the opening.
The tolling operation has been transferred to the Punjab Ring Road Authority (PRRA) under the One Network company arrangement. The authority will now handle operation and maintenance of the toll plazas.
The fifth and final interchange at Thalian, designed as a broad-based interchange, will be built at a later stage. For now, the Ring Road has been connected to the motorway route at Thalian without a full interchange.
Rs50.4 billion cost after third revision
The Punjab Development Working Party (PDWP) has approved the third revised PC-I for the project, fixing the cost at Rs50.4 billion. That figure includes the construction cost of the future Thalian broad-based interchange.
Feature Pakistan reported on October 20 that the project cost had climbed to Rs50.4bn as the toll plazas remained incomplete, marking the third cost escalation since work began. The original PC-I stood at Rs26.9 billion and rose to Rs32.9 billion in the first revision and Rs46.4 billion in the second, according to project records.
Dawn reported last week that 8,992 kanals of land had been acquired for the project at a cost of Rs6.7 billion, a figure kept outside the main project cost. If land acquisition were added, the total would rise to about Rs57 billion.
Why the road matters for Rawalpindi
The Ring Road connects GT Road with the M-2 motorway, giving commuters a way around Rawalpindi’s busiest roads. Former Rawalpindi district nazim and PML-N leader Raja Jawaid Ikhlas has said, according to ProPakistani, the road would give overseas Pakistanis from Gujar Khan, Kallar Syedan, Jhelum, Mirpur and Dadyal easier access to Islamabad International Airport, while easing heavy traffic inside the city.
The project passes through Gujar Khan, Rawalpindi and Taxila tehsils, and officials expect it to support commercial activity and improve livelihoods in the surrounding areas. Rawalpindi Division Commissioner Suleman Ghani has directed departments to complete all remaining finishing work by October 25.
Cautious optimism
The October 28 date is the firmest target yet, but the project has missed several opening deadlines before. Independent reporting on the corridor notes that the toll booths at Banth and Thalian, the Intelligent Transportation System and electronic toll collection still need about two more weeks of work, and no written opening notification from the Punjab government has yet been issued.
For now, though, the machinery is moving: tree plantation and finishing work were inspected this week at Banth Mor, and officials say the road is on course to open to the public at the end of the month.
Feature Pakistan earlier reported the opening of the Kashmir Chowk underpass in Islamabad and the Hayatabad underpass in Peshawar, and has followed the Ring Road’s cost history in Rs50.4bn cost escalation coverage. The Punjab government has also unveiled an AFIC underpass plan for Rawalpindi.
