Hayatabad Underpass Opens in Peshawar for Rs1.6bn

The Rs1.6 billion Hayatabad Toll Plaza underpass in Peshawar has been inaugurated, giving commuters a new route meant to ease one of the city’s busiest choke points. According to reports from Express Tribune and Business Recorder, the project was completed in about 90 days and is designed to separate through-traffic from the heavy buildup around Hayatabad Toll Plaza.

For people who travel between Bara Road, the Bara side, Hayatabad, and Peshawar Ring Road, this is the kind of project that can matter every single day. But the big question is still the same: will it actually make the commute smoother at peak hours, or will the jam just move a little farther down the road? For background, read our earlier coverage: Margalla Underpass on Islamabad Park Road Opening Soon.

What has opened in Peshawar

The underpass was inaugurated by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, according to the two reports. They say the project cost Rs1.6 billion and was finished in roughly 90 days.

The opening matters because Hayatabad Toll Plaza has long been a pressure point for traffic entering and leaving the area. The new underpass is meant to give through-traffic a cleaner path instead of forcing every vehicle to mix with local movements near the toll plaza.

If you want a bit more context on how Peshawar has been handling road works lately, our earlier coverage of KP Starts Rs. 7.2bn Peshawar Road Upgrade Plan shows this is part of a wider push to untangle traffic in the city.

Route, size and structure

Both reports agree on the key numbers.

• Reported total project length: 500 metres

• Reported underpass barrel: 130 metres

• Reported structure: 665 piles

• Reported lane count: two lanes

The route is described as serving traffic moving from Detour Road on the Bara side towards Peshawar Ring Road. That makes it most useful for vehicles that want to pass through the area instead of stopping in the local traffic mix around Hayatabad Toll Plaza.

One thing still needs caution: the reports do not clearly confirm the exact lane direction. So while we know it is a two-lane underpass, we can’t safely say whether it is one lane each way or arranged another way.

What it could mean for your daily commute

In plain terms, this underpass should help by separating traffic flows. That usually means fewer conflict points, less merging chaos, and a better chance of keeping vehicles moving.

But we should not overpromise. No verified before-and-after traffic count has been published yet, so nobody should claim a confirmed travel-time saving today.

What commuters should watch over the next few days is simple:

• Morning and evening queue length at Hayatabad Toll Plaza

• Whether traffic backs up at the entrances and exits

• If local traffic and through-traffic still cross paths too often

• Whether new signs and lane markings are clear enough

• Whether delays shift to Bara Road, Detour Road, or Ring Road instead

And that last point matters a lot. In cities like Peshawar, one new structure can ease one bottleneck while putting pressure on the next junction. That’s why the first few days after opening are usually the best time to see how well the route really works.

Where Kabutar Chowk fits in

The broader road-upgrade chatter around Peshawar has also included the Kabutar Chowk Underpass on Ring Road, but its current status is not verified in the supplied reports. So for now, it should be treated only as related background, not as confirmed open infrastructure.

That distinction matters. The Hayatabad project is a separate, reported Rs1.6 billion underpass, while the wider provincial road package mentioned in coverage is a different figure altogether.

Conclusion

The Hayatabad Toll Plaza underpass is now open, and it should give Bara side and Ring Road traffic a more direct path past a major congestion point. Still, the real test will come during normal weekday rush hours, when queues, merging, and traffic control will show whether the new route truly helps or just shifts the problem a little.

For now, drivers should follow the new signs, approach carefully, and give themselves extra time until the traffic pattern settles.

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