Consultants submit Ring Road route recommendation

Long-delayed project proposed as panacea to twin cities’ traffic woes

RAWALPINDI:

The consultants on the Ring Road project have recommended the route from Banth to the Thalian Interchange on M-2 as the optimal route for the longdelayed 38.3-km long road.

The Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) had signed an agreement with a joint venture between Pakistani and Turkish firms – Asian Consulting Engineers and Botek Bosporus Technical Consulting Company – for third-party validation consultancy services to determine the best route for the Ring Road.

The preceding PTI government had also finalised the same route recommended by the consultants after it revised the project following corruption allegations.

According to reports, the project cost increased by 60 per cent due to an 18- month delay.

It was Rs27 billion in March 2022, sources said.

Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaqat Ali Chatha, who is also the project director of the Ring Road project, presided over a consultative meeting of all the stakeholders on Tuesday in which the recommendation was shared.

RDA DG Saif Anwar Jappa as well as other stakeholders including representatives of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the transport union, Rawat Industrial Estate and of Anjuman-e- Tajran participated in the meeting.

The commissioner noted that the project would help resolve traffic problems in the twin cities.

The consultant further suggested that a detailed study of phase-II, in consultation with the NHA, should be done either using M-2 and M-1 highways or exploring a new road bypassing Islamabad airport which would connect the Ring Road to Sangjani, N-5.

In both cases, Margalla Avenue would be connected to M-1.