News
Rs7.2bn Peshawar Road Upgrade Programme Launched
By Mariam Khan
Real Estate Analyst
4 min read
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Muhammad Sohail Afridi laid the foundation stone for the Key Roads and Routes Upgradation Project, allocating Rs7.2 billion for the rehabilitation, beautification, and improvement of 19 major roads and routes across Peshawar under Phase-I of the broader Peshawar Revitalisation Plan. The chief minister simultaneously launched a second project, construction of the Pishtakhara Chowk Underpass, at an estimated cost of Rs2.1 billion, bringing the combined value of the two projects launched together to Rs9.3 billion.
The Specific Roads Actually Covered
Phase-I(A) of the roads project covers Bacha Khan Chowk to Pajagi Ring Road, Dalazak Road, Bacha Khan Chowk to Northern Bypass Road, Ashraf Road to Circular Road, Hashtnagri Road, Faqirabad Road, Khyber Bazaar to Kohat Road via Ramdas, Cinema Road, LRH Road, Ramdas Chowk to GT Road, and Lahori Chowk to Anam Sanam Chowk Road. Phase-I(B) covers Kohat Road to Bara Bridge, University Road to Canal Road, Bara Road to Safiyoon Chowk Road, Swati Phatak to Ring Road, and Ring Road Achini to University Road via Spin Jumaat, alongside major entry roads and boundary wall improvements specifically within Hayatabad.
Why the Underpass Has Its Own Distinct, Aggressive Timeline
The Pishtakhara Chowk Underpass carries a notably tight three month completion target, considerably faster than typical timelines for comparable underpass projects elsewhere in Pakistan. The chief minister announced the underpass will be named after Shaheed Fayyaz Khalil, and the structure is specifically intended to separate through traffic from surface level flows at one of Peshawar's busiest junctions, a model increasingly applied across Pakistan's larger cities to reduce signal delays at major intersections.
This Is One Piece of a Considerably Larger Provincial Programme
This Rs7.2 billion allocation represents Phase-I of a single component within the much larger Rs200 billion Peshawar Revitalisation Plan, under which projects worth Rs171 billion had already been approved as of the programme's broader progress reporting this year. The full plan spans work distributed across the Peshawar Development Authority, the Public Health Engineering Department, the Local Council Board, the Irrigation Department, the Communication and Works Department, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Highways Authority, and separately includes feasibility and design work already under way for upgrading 35 major arterial roads across urban Peshawar, alongside underground electricity cabling projects, a new link road connecting Hayatabad Industrial Estate to the Northern Bypass, sanitation and water supply scheme rehabilitation, and a planned sewerage treatment plant at Faqir Kale.
What the Chief Minister Said About Delivery Standards
Addressing the launch ceremony, Afridi said the upgrades are specifically aimed at improving traffic flow and easing commuting, while ensuring no compromise on construction quality, financial transparency, or project deadlines. He said development schemes under the wider Rs200 billion plan were progressing rapidly and would be completed ahead of schedule, and separately addressed public concern over the programme's integrity, stating that if anyone has concrete evidence of corruption connected to the plan, it should be presented and the government would take immediate action.
What Remains Unconfirmed
No specific completion date has been given for the 19 road Phase-I upgrade project itself, distinct from the Pishtakhara Underpass's specific three month target. Given the sheer scale of the broader Rs200 billion programme this project sits within, spanning multiple provincial departments and dozens of individual schemes, the pace of delivery across this specific Phase-I road package relative to the underpass's more aggressive timeline will be worth tracking independently.
What This Means for Property and Commercial Activity Along These Corridors
Genuine rehabilitation and improvement of 19 major Peshawar roads and routes, connecting corridors including Ring Road, Northern Bypass, University Road, Canal Road, Kohat Road, Bara Road, and Hayatabad specifically, could meaningfully improve accessibility for residential and commercial property along these routes once delivered. Given the project's scale and the chief minister's own stated emphasis on avoiding deadline slippage, property owners and businesses along the named corridors, and particularly around Hayatabad given the specific boundary wall and entry point improvements included there, should watch for confirmed construction progress over the coming months as the genuine indicator of benefit, rather than the launch ceremony alone.