Third Party Validator Selected to Choose Optimal Route for RRR

According to news reported on May 23, a joint venture (JV) of Botek Bosporus Technical and Asian Consulting Engineers has been chosen to assess the optimal route for the Rawalpindi Ring Road Project. While the Project Management Unit (PMU) predicted the project's cost to be PKR 30 million, the aforementioned JV won the contract by submitting the lowest technical and financial bid equivalent to PKR 25 million.

The final choice was reached during a meeting that was presided over by Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chatha, Director General Saif Anwar Jappa, and Chief Engineer Habibul Haq Randhawa of the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA). It was emphasized that the PMU will sign the JV agreement in the upcoming days to allow the business to begin operations by the end of this month. The JV has been asked to choose the best possible route for RRR within six months period.

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Earlier, Shahbaz Sharif, the prime minister, demanded that a consultant be hired so that a third party could validate the project's best course of action. Two routes for the project were planned while the PTI was in power. According to the 2020 alignment, the 66.3-kilometer project costing Rs64 billion stretched from Rawat Radio Pakistan to Thalian and from Thaliant to Sangjani.

In the new alignment, It was a 38.3 km controlled access road planned in 2021 that started at National Highway (N-5) in Baanth and ended at Motorway M-2 at Thallian Interchange after crossing Chakbeli Road, Adiala Road, and Chakri Road. The project's overall cost was Rs33.7 billion, which included Rs27 billion for building costs and Rs6.7 billion for land purchase.