The Tiruchirappalli Corporation has revised the timeline for the Integrated Bus Terminus link road project, saying completion will take at least 18 more months and now extend close to early 2028. The project is designed to link the Panjapur Integrated Bus Terminus with major state and national highways serving Trichy and has been planned in three phases. Revised projections followed the identification of multiple hurdles in land acquisition and pending statutory approvals that have slowed progress. In Phase One, which covers the stretch between Panjapur and Karumandapam nodes and was sanctioned at Rs 817 mn, around 35 per cent of the work has been completed. Progress on this section has been held up by delays in obtaining approval from the Southern Railway for a Railway Road over Bridge (RoB) at E Pudur MGR Nagar and by restricted site access. Officials indicated that partial completion previously anticipated between October and December 2026 is no longer feasible. Phase Two, covering the Woraiyur–Kudamurutti checkpost section, has recorded about 15 per cent completion largely because land acquisition remains incomplete. Phase Three, the longest and most complex segment connecting densely populated Karumandapam and Woraiyur areas, has not yet received administrative sanction and includes five elevated stretches, one of them near the Woraiyur Kasivilangi fish market. Authorities warned that the project will not fully serve its intended purpose without the third phase. District Collector Pratik Tayal inspected works along the Koraiyar and Kudamurutti river banks and reviewed progress, while officials said land requirement for the scheme has been reduced from eight acres to about one acre though permission to enter sites and access issues persist. They reported that only about half of affected landowners have accepted the compensation package and that, excluding Phase Three, remaining work could be completed within a year once clearances are in place. A local road users trust representative urged the state government to fast?track clearances and funding to ease city congestion.