If you are reading an older guide that says the Malir Expressway is "coming in 2024" or "under construction," that information is out of date. The road is now a reality. So here is the current picture in 2026: what has actually opened, the full route, and, since this is what most property buyers really want to know, what it means for values in DHA City, Bahria Town Karachi and the projects along its path.
Quick answer: The Malir Expressway, now officially named Shahrah-e-Bhutto, was inaugurated on 22 May 2026, with its first phase having opened back in December 2024. It is an approximately 39 km, six-lane, access-controlled toll expressway running from Korangi Creek Avenue in DHA to Kathore near the M-9 Motorway, along the Malir River. It is largely open, with some interchanges and finishing works still being completed. Confirm the current status of a specific segment and the toll before relying on it for a daily commute.
Is the Malir Expressway open?
Yes, in large part. The project moved in stages, which is why there is so much conflicting information floating around online. The first phase, connecting Qayyumabad to Shah Faisal Colony, opened in December 2024. The wider expressway was then formally inaugurated on 22 May 2026 under its official name, Shahrah-e-Bhutto. So this is no longer a plan on a map, it is a road people are driving on. That said, large infrastructure rarely finishes in one clean moment, so expect some interchanges and finishing works to still be wrapping up, and check the current position on the specific stretch you plan to use rather than assuming the entire corridor is fully live end to end.
Route and key facts
The expressway runs along the right bank of the Malir River, giving Karachi a signal-free, high-speed bypass that did not exist before. Here are the essentials as they stand in 2026. It is roughly 39 km long and built as a six-lane road, three lanes in each direction, with service roads alongside. It starts around Korangi Creek Avenue in DHA, near Qayyumabad, and ends at Kathore near the M-9 Motorway, the Superhighway. Being access-controlled means no signals, intersections or local U-turns, so traffic flows at motorway speed. It includes an elevated section of around 5 km, several flyovers and underpasses, and multiple interchanges. Because it was built under a public-private partnership, it operates as a toll road. One naming point worth knowing: Malir Expressway and Shahrah-e-Bhutto are the same road, so do not let the two names confuse you.
Which areas it connects
This is where the road earns its importance for property. Its interchanges and route open up fast access to a string of key locations, including DHA City Karachi, Bahria Town Karachi, Jinnah International Airport, Malir Cantt, and the Shah Faisal and Quaidabad areas, before tying into the M-9 Motorway. In other words, it stitches together the southern DHA and Korangi belt with the fast-growing developments out towards the Superhighway, which until now were a slow, frustrating drive apart.
What it means for property values
Travel time is the whole story here. A trip from the DHA and Korangi side out to DHA City and the M-9 that used to take 60 to 90 minutes in peak traffic can now be a fraction of that, in the region of 25 to 30 minutes. When a location suddenly becomes far more reachable, demand and prices tend to follow, which is exactly why the corridor around this expressway has become one of Karachi's watch-this-space investment zones. Projects positioned along it stand to benefit most, and ARY Laguna in DHA City Karachi is a clear example, sitting right in the belt this road serves. You can see the current picture on our ARY Laguna project page, and browse everything on the Saiban projects page. If you want a read on which specific plots or projects along the corridor are worth a look now that the road is open, that is a conversation worth having before prices catch up fully. For Bahria Town Karachi pricing, see our regularly updated rates page [internal link: insert your Bahria Town Karachi prices page URL].
How it got here: a quick timeline
The road had a long road of its own. It was conceived years back, with the foundation stone laid in December 2020, and construction ran through a series of delays and funding wobbles, including a period when financing was pulled and the timeline slipped well past its original targets. Phase 1 opened in December 2024, and the main inauguration followed on 22 May 2026. If you remember hearing about this project for years with nothing to show for it, that history is why. The difference now is that the road actually exists.
Malir Expressway map
For the route at a glance, the expressway traces the Malir River from the DHA and Korangi side up to the M-9 near Kathore, acting as the shortest high-speed alternative to reach the Superhighway from that part of the city. [Insert current Malir Expressway route map image here. Note: the old 2020-2021 map images from the previous version are outdated, replace them with a current route map.]
