Opening of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project has faced a sixth postponement after nearly twenty years of delays, leaving one interchange unfinished and essential traffic management systems uninstalled. Incomplete toll booths, an Intelligent Transportation System, and an electronic toll collection system continue to stall the full launch of the route.
Initial projections placed the budget at Rs26.9 billion, but expenditures have now climbed past Rs58 billion and will likely reach Rs60 billion upon completion.
Former Punjab chief minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi originally conceived the development, and former prime minister Imran Khan laid the foundation stone.
Spanning 38.3-kilometres, the highway features six lanes and five interchanges. Finished locations include the starting Banth interchange along with Chak Beli Khan, Adiala Road, and Chakri interchanges, while the Thallian interchange near the end of the path stays unfinished.
The Rawalpindi commissioner scheduled a full traffic opening for November to remove heavy vehicles from city streets and enhance overall traffic movement.
Separately, officials set a completion deadline of June 30, 2028, for the Islamabad Ring Road project connecting Taxila to Bharakahu and Bharakahu to Rawat-Banth.
Upon finishing both initiatives, an expanded ring road grid will join Rawalpindi and Islamabad, allowing heavy transport moving between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Punjab, alongside paths toward Karachi, to steer clear of the twin cities.
