Red Line rolls on, University Road crawls

Five years into construction, city's busiest artery remains riddled with potholes, bottlenecks as project deadline sl

KARACHI:

University Road, one of the busiest arteries of the metropolis, has become a five-year ordeal for commuters, with the completion deadline for the Red Line BRT project now pushed to June 2027.

Launched in 2022 to improve public transport, the mass transit project was initially scheduled for completion in 2024. The deadline was later moved to 2025, then 2026 and has now been extended to June 2027.

The prolonged construction has left large sections of University Road riddled with potholes, broken surfaces and diversions, turning short journeys into hours-long ordeals. Businesses along the route have suffered losses, while thousands of students and residents face daily traffic congestion.

The stretch between Hasan Square and NIPA Chowrangi is among the worst affected. Traffic has been diverted through already-dilapidated streets in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, while tankers parked around NIPA Chowrangi have further disrupted traffic flow.

Development work in front of Metro has narrowed the road to a single lane, resulting in severe congestion. The situation is particularly difficult for students of Karachi University and NED University, located about a kilometre apart, who routinely get stuck in morning traffic. A major hospital is also located along the route.

Further ahead, the damaged section near Shamama Shopping Centre creates another bottleneck, with journeys that normally take minutes stretching into hours during peak times.

The project has also taken a heavy toll on businesses, particularly around Safoora, where restaurants and other commercial establishments have either closed or relocated because of prolonged construction and reduced accessibility.

Residents complain that the project was launched without adequate planning and has repeatedly involved digging up and rebuilding sections of the same road. They say dust, broken roads and traffic diversions have made life increasingly difficult for surrounding communities.

School van drivers have also reportedly refused to use some sections of University Road, adding to parents' problems.

According to the project plan, the Red Line corridor will run approximately 26 kilometres from Malir Halt to Numaish Chowrangi. Each bus will accommodate around 50 to 70 passengers, with an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people expected to use the service daily.

Traffic police data cited in the report shows that University Road has among the lowest public transport coverage in Karachi, despite an estimated 1 million to 1.5 million vehicles using the artery every day. Around 2 million to 2.5 million people are estimated to travel along the road daily.

The prolonged disruption has raised questions over the planning of a project intended to improve public transport but which has effectively crippled one of the city's busiest roads for years.

A TransKarachi consultant told The Express Tribune that the Red Line project would be completed by June 2027. Drainage, service roads and road construction are expected to be completed by October 2026.

He said work on K-IV augmentation lines, measuring 72 and 86 inches, was under way between NIPA Chowrangi and Hasan Square. The Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP) would formally inform TransKarachi after completing its work, following which the road would be reconstructed.

The consultant said the augmentation work was expected to be completed by December.