Construction on the second phase of the Kathmandu Ring Road widening project, which has experienced numerous delays, is now scheduled to commence only after the Dashain festival. Despite significant progress in preparatory work, including near completion of the final design, physical construction remains pending.
A delegation from Nepal, led by Arjun Prasad Aryal, chief of the Development Cooperation Implementation Division under the Department of Roads, recently returned from China after reviewing the project’s final design with Chinese technical teams. The design is being prepared by Chinese state-owned firms CCCC First Highway Consultants and Xi’an Fangzhou Engineering Consulting, acting as official consultants to the Chinese government. Aryal noted that Nepal had proposed additional structures and pointed out omissions in the initial plan. The finalized design is expected to be submitted to relevant Chinese authorities within a week.
Once the design receives final approval, the Chinese side will proceed with contractor selection. The winning company is anticipated to dispatch a team to Nepal to establish a site office and complete preliminary arrangements. However, Aryal confirmed that construction work will not begin before the Dashain festival, even if contracts are signed prior to the monsoon season. He expressed optimism that major obstacles have been resolved, attributing previous delays to issues on both the Nepali and Chinese sides.
The project’s second phase covers an 8.2-kilometre stretch from Kalanki to near Basundhara Chowk. It involves widening the road to eight lanes, excluding service roads. Planned improvements include replacing the existing culvert at Dhungedhara with a concrete bridge, constructing three disability-friendly pedestrian bridges along key corridors, and installing streetlights along the entire Kalanki-Basundhara section. The Kathmandu Road Division has already completed a separate 700-metre stretch from Narayan Gopal Chowk to Chappal Karkhana using government funds, with further preparations underway to widen a 1.2-kilometre section from Chappal Karkhana to the Dhobikhola bridge.
Nepal and China signed the Project Implementation Agreement on April 29 in Kathmandu to accelerate the project’s progress. The Chinese government is providing a grant of approximately Rs11 billion for this phase, while the Nepalese Cabinet’s decision in February to waive customs duties and taxes on construction materials further facilitated the effort.
The first phase of the Ring Road expansion, covering the section from Koteshwar to Kalanki, was completed in 2018. Although China had initially planned to extend the widening project beyond Basundhara Chowk to Narayan Gopal Chowk, the extension was curtailed due to difficulties in clearing buildings along part of the route. Consequently, the current phase terminates near the Basundhara culvert.
The Nepali delegation is expected to update Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Sunil Lamsal on the project’s status in the coming days.