The Rawalpindi Ring Road opening to traffic has been pushed back by another month while crews finish toll plazas and weighing stations on the controlled-access route between Baanth and Thalian.
A senior district administration official said the provincial government will announce an inauguration date only after the remaining facilities are complete. The road has cost Rs50.4 billion. The same official indicated that the pending work could take a month or longer.
Why traffic cannot start yet
Authorities plan to install eight weighing stations so heavy trucks can be measured and toll charges calculated. The official said both heavy and light vehicles will be allowed on the road only after these facilities are operational.
Workers are still building toll plaza booths at Baanth and Thalian. Procurement of the weighing machines is not finished. Construction of the weighing stations is estimated at two to three weeks, after which teams would install the machines. The Punjab Ring Road Authority would then need about two more weeks to install an Intelligent Transportation System—digital traffic sensors and controls—and Electronic Toll Collection, so sensors can weigh trucks and set their tolls.
Alongside that work, offices for the Punjab Ring Road Authority and residential accommodation for officials are also being set up.
What the road is built to do
The six-lane road has a design speed of 120 kilometres per hour, controlled access, five interchanges and a 90-metre right of way. Its structures include two bridges over the Soan and Sill rivers, 12 further bridges over nullahs and roads, a railway bridge near Baanth and 11 overpasses.
The official said work on the Thalian interchange would begin only after the Ring Road opens to traffic, with that interchange expected to finish by December.
Timeline: what has happened so far
- March 2022: Then-prime minister Imran Khan laid the project’s foundation stone, when planners under the PTI government had proposed a 68-kilometre ring road.
- After a financial scandal halted that plan: Authorities approved a revised 38.3-kilometre alignment from Baanth to Thalian.
- August 8, 2023: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif laid a foundation stone at Rawat after the Pakistan Democratic Movement government, which had temporarily suspended the project, authorised work following third-party validation of the revised route.
- Now: The Rawalpindi Ring Road opening is delayed another month for toll plazas, weighing stations and related systems; the Thalian interchange is expected to finish by December after the road opens.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Rawalpindi Ring Road abhi traffic ke liye open nahi hogi. Toll plazas aur weighing stations ki wajah se opening ek aur mahine ya us se zyada late ho sakti hai. Sarkari date tab aayegi jab yeh facilities tayyar hon. Rozmarra ke drivers ko thodi der aur wait karna parega; Thalian interchange ka kaam road khulne ke baad December tak mukammal hone ki umeed hai.
