Ring Road alignment may be altered again

After the National Highway Authority (NHA) raised objections to the alignment of the Rawalpindi Ring Road project and traffic management, authorities concerned have started mulling over altering the design of the road by constructing a link road from Fateh Jhang to Sangjani.

The Punjab government has decided to construct the Rawalpindi Ring Road under the 2017 alignment, under which, the road will be constructed from N-5 GT Road Rawat Banth Mor to Thalian Interchange (Motorway-2). The NHA had raised the objections that more than 33,000 heavy transport vehicles would enter M2 from Rawalpindi Ring Road daily, which will not only damage its infrastructure but also cause a traffic jam at the Islamabad motorway toll plaza.

A senior official of the project management unit said that instead of linking the ring road with the motorway, the construction of a link road is under consideration. The officer said that former Rawalpindi commissioner Gulzar Hussain Shah had directed the project planners to remove the objections of NHA within two weeks, however, no progress could be made in this regard. The officer said that a proposal to construct a link road to connect the ring road with Fateh Jhang and Sangjani is under consideration. He said that the traffic coming from ring road will be diverted to Sangjani, which will pass through link road without using the motorway.

The official also said that without the link road, transporters using the ring road via motorway will have to pay toll tax at four places to cover 60 kilometres. Transporters will never accept the toll tax. He said that the construction of a link road would not only remove the objections of NNA but also the payment of toll tax would be limited to only two places. The official said that if the link road proposal was approved, the Punjab government would construct the link road within the limits of Rawalpindi while the link road of Islamabad would be built by the Capital Development Authority.

The proposed realignment of the Rawalpindi Ring Road is expected to further delay the start of work on the project. Last year, the government annulled the ring road project after the change in the alignment to benefit real estate players, landlords and influential. After the scandal surfaced, the government suspended 15 officers including the then commissioner Capt (retd) Mohammad Mahmood.