Crossing of the Indus to ease the chokehold of the Lansdowne Bridge; Bhutto Expressway will be operational by April
KARACHI:
In a major effort to untangle chronic congestion in upper Sindh, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah approved a new bridge connecting Sukkur and Rohri, a project intended to transform mobility across a fast-growing economic corridor. The move comes as traffic pressure on the aging Lansdowne Bridge reaches crisis point, with authorities racing to come up with alternative routes and speed up key infrastructure, including the near-complete Shaheed Bhutto Expressway.
The approval was given at the 51st Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Policy Board meeting, held at the Chief Minister’s House, where key infrastructure initiatives and policy reforms were also approved.
The proposed Sukkur-Rohri Bridge will serve as an alternative route to the historic Lansdowne Bridge, significantly reducing traffic pressure and facilitating smoother travel between Sukkur, Rohri and adjacent areas.
At the meeting, Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said the twin cities of Sukkur and Rohri have developed into a single economic and urban corridor, with almost 70 percent of the residents of Rohri, Saleh Pat and Pano Aqil commuting to Sukkur daily for work, education, healthcare and commercial activities.
Currently, the Lansdowne Bridge serves as the main crossing, while the Sukkur Dam provides additional support. However, due to ongoing rehabilitation works, the dam will remain closed to traffic until at least 2027, further burdening existing roads.
The Chief Minister was informed that more than 30,000 vehicles use the Lansdowne Bridge daily. Due to its historic nature and structural limitations, heavy traffic, especially that of vehicles heading towards national highways such as the N-5 and M-5, is restricted, causing severe traffic jams during rush hours and affecting emergency response services.
To address these challenges, CM Shah approved funding under the Project Development Facility (PDF) for hiring consultants. The project will be executed under the PPP model by the Sindh Local Government Department.
The new bridge will be built in the north of Bukkur Island and will span approximately 1.5 kilometers. It will be a multi-lane facility designed to accommodate heavy commercial traffic, as well as dedicated pedestrian paths.
The PPP Council also reviewed the progress made on the 39-kilometer Shaheed Bhutto Expressway, which has achieved a completion rate of 88.2 percent. The chief minister asked the authorities to ensure that the project becomes fully operational by April 2026. Approval was also granted for the installation of solar-powered street lights on a 4.5-kilometer elevated section near Sammu Goth, along with a 25-year maintenance plan to improve safety and security.
Meanwhile, the council approved the feasibility study and detailed design of the Kathore Interchange to improve connectivity at the end of the highway.
The meeting further approved key reforms aimed at strengthening the PPP framework. New rules have been approved to review anomalous bids, with any bid exceeding or falling by more than 15 percent above the estimated cost having to be rejected.
A formal mechanism for unsolicited proposals from the private sector has also been introduced, including the “right of first refusal” (ROFR).
