The Punjab government expects to open the Rs. 47 billion Rawalpindi Ring Road to traffic within the next month after workers resume the remaining construction work following a brief pause over a controversy involving an alleged no-objection certificate (NOC) for a proposed rest area.
A senior district administration official said contractors have completed the 38-kilometre road linking Baanth on the Grand Trunk Road with Thalian on the motorway. However, crews continue to build interchange ramps, drainage infrastructure and roadside fencing.
The official said workers will complete the interchange ramps at Chakri, Khasala and Chak Beli Khan within the next one to two weeks. He added that crews are also constructing drainage nullahs at several locations to reduce the risk of flooding during the ongoing monsoon season.
The official said workers have started fencing along the entire route. They have already erected around 70 percent of the concrete pillars and continue to install barbed wire. He added that authorities will ban pedestrian and unauthorized vehicle crossings, similar to the motorway system, to improve safety and prevent commercial encroachments along the route.
The official said contractors have completed the foundations for the toll plazas. He added that the Punjab Ring Road Authority will build the remaining facilities, install a computerized toll collection system and collect tolls from private vehicles, public transport and goods carriers under a structure similar to the Lahore Ring Road.
Rawalpindi Ring Road Deputy Project Director Ashfaq Sulheri said the project had reached its final stage and that officials had informed the Punjab government about the latest progress. He said the government would decide the opening date.
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