Motorways of Pakistan

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Motorways of Pakistan
Pakistan motorway symbol.svg
Pakistan motorway sign
System information
Maintained by National Highway Authority
Length2,567 km (1,595 mi)
Formed1997
Highway names
System links

Motorways of Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان کے موٹروے) are a network of multiple-lane, high-speed, controlled-access highways, which are owned, maintained, and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority. At present, 2567 km of motorways are operational, while an additional 1204 km are under construction or planned. Motorways are a part of Pakistan's “National Trade Corridor Project” and “China-Pakistan Belt Road Initiative,” from Khunjerab Pass near the Chinese border to Gwadar in Balochistan.

All motorways in Pakistan are prefixed with the letter 'M' (for "Motorway") followed by the unique numerical designation of the specific highway (with a hyphen in the middle), e.g. "M-1".[1][2]

History[]

M-2 motorway in the Salt Range
M-2 motorway exit to Sargodha

Pakistan's motorways are an important part of Pakistan's "National Trade Corridor Project", which aims to link Pakistan's three Arabian Sea ports (Karachi Port, Port Bin Qasim and Gwadar Port) to the rest of the country through its national highways and motorways network and further north with Afghanistan, Central Asia and China.[3] The project was planned in 1990. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor project aims to link Gwadar Port and Kashgar (China) using Pakistani motorways, national highways, and expressways.

List of motorways[]

Name Route Length (km) Lanes Completion Year Status Remarks
M-1 M-1 motorway (Pakistan) Peshawar–Islamabad 155 6 2007 Operational Hazara Motorway (M-15) & Swat Motorway (M-16) interchanges were completed in 2018 & 2020 respectively while M-14 Motorway Interchange is completed in December 2021.
M-2 M-2 motorway (Pakistan) Islamabad–Lahore 367 6 1997 Operational Repaved in 2016
M-3 M-3 motorway (Pakistan) Lahore–Abdul Hakeem 230 6 2019

Operational

Construction began in December 2015.
M-4 M-4 motorway (Pakistan) Pindi Bhattian–Multan 309 4-6 2019

Operational

Construction began in 2009.
M-5 M-5 motorway (Pakistan) Multan–Sukkur 392 6 2019 Operational Construction began in May 2016.
M-6 M-6 motorway (Pakistan) Sukkur-Hyderabad 306 6 Not yet started Planned Vital project pending since 2016:[4] Construction not yet started but expected to start in 2021. Approved by ECNEC in 2021.[5]
M-6 M-7 motorway (Pakistan) Dadu–Hub 270 N/A N/A Planned
M-8 M-8 motorway (Pakistan) Ratodero–Gwadar 892 2 2022 Partially Operational
Under Construction 		Operational between Hoshab-Gwadar and Khuzdar-Ratodero. Construction approved by ECNEC.

442 km is operational and 146 km of the remaining 450 km road is under construction between Hoshab-Awaran.[5]

M-9 M-9 motorway (Pakistan) Hyderabad–Karachi 136 6 2018 Operational Upgradation started into 8 lanes.An upgrade of the previous Super Highway by FWO.
M-10 M-10 motorway (Pakistan) Karachi Northern Bypass 57 2 2007 Operational Ordinary bi-directional single lane road, Proposed for expansion into 4 lane.
M-11 M-11 motorway (Pakistan) Lahore–Sialkot 103 4 2020 Operational Construction started in 2018
M-12 Sialkot – Kharian 70 4 2023 Under Construction Construction started in September 2021.[6][7]
M-13 Kharian - Rawalpindi 117 4 2023 Under Construction Construction is starting in March 2022.
M-14 M-14 motorway (Pakistan) Islamabad–D.I Khan 285 4 2022 Operational Construction began in May 2016. Officially operational on 5 January 2022.[8][9]

M-15

M-15 motorway (Pakistan) Hasan Abdal–Thakot 180 6-4-2 2020 Operational Also called Hazara Motorway. Construction began in 2016
M-16 M-16 motorway (Pakistan) Swabi – Chakdara 160 4 2020 Operational Also called Swat Motorway.operational in October 2020.Phase 2 construction will start in March 2022 & completed in February 2024.
Total Length 3994

Other proposed motorways[]

Name Route Length (km) Lanes Completion Year Status Remarks
Peshawar - D.I. Khan Motorway Peshawar – D.I. Khan 360 6 2024 Approved by ECNEC on 10 Sep 2021[10][11]
Dir – Swat 4 --
(MMMM) Mansehra–Muzaffarabad–Mirpur–Mangla 174 4 Planned[12]
Peshawar–Kabul–Dushanbe motorway Peshawar–Kabul–Dushanbe 6 Planned Under Feasibility
Shorkot – Layyah 119 -- Connection with two CPEC routes[13]
Lahore – Kartarpur Connection to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur[14]

Map[]

Map of road systems in Pakistan

Network map[]

Interactive map of motorways of Pakistan

Patrolling and enforcement[]

Motorway police patrolling the M-2 motorway

Pakistan's Motorways are patrolled by Pakistan's National Highways & Motorway Police (NH&MP), which is responsible for enforcement of traffic and safety laws, security and recovery on the Pakistan Motorway network. The NH&MP use SUVs, cars and heavy motorbikes for patrolling purposes and uses speed cameras for enforcing speed limits.

Emergency runways[]

The M-1 motorway (Peshawar-Islamabad) and the M-2 motorway (Islamabad-Lahore) each include two emergency runway sections of 9,000 feet (2,700 m) length. The four emergency runway sections become operational by removing removable concrete medians using forklifts. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has used the M-2 motorway as a runway on two occasions: the first time in 2000 when it landed an F-7P fighter, a Super Mushak trainer and a C-130 and, again, in 2010. On the last occasion, the PAF used a runway section on the M-2 motorway on 2 April 2010 to land, refuel and take-off two jet fighters, a Mirage III and an F-7P, during its Highmark 2010 exercise.[15]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "South Asia's Most Modern Interchange on Motorway-9 Open to Traffic". A blog about real estate, lifestyle and tourism in Pakistan | Zameen Blog. Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  2. ^ "National Highways Authority – Committed to Excellence". Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  3. ^ "Pakistan's smart motorways strength for regional connectivity". Global Village Space. 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  4. ^ "Hyderabad-Sukkur section: China, S Korea lobbying for M-6 motorway". The Express Tribune. 2016-07-27. Retrieved 2021-06-05.
  5. ^ a b Reporter, The Newspaper's Staff (2021-05-27). "Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway among 10 projects approved by Ecnec". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-05-27.
  6. ^ "PM Imran Khan performs groundbreaking of Sialkot-Kharian motorway project". Dunya News. Retrieved 2021-09-03.
  7. ^ "Govt approves Rs27.8bn Sialkot-Kharian motorway". Profit by Pakistan Today. 2021-08-27. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  8. ^ Desk, Web (2022-01-06). "Hakla-DI Khan motorway will help end 'cycle of poverty': PM". Aaj.tv. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  9. ^ "'Tremendous work': PM Imran Khan inaugurates Hakla-D.I. Khan Motorway". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2022-01-07.
  10. ^ "KP CM congratulates people on approval of Peshawar-D.I Khan, Dir Motorway". dunyanews.tv. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  11. ^ "Peshawar-DI Khan Motorway PC-1 approved". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  12. ^ "AJK terms MMMM Expressway project of exceptional significance". www.nation.com.pk. Archived from the original on 2018-12-30.
  13. ^ "Roznama Dunya Multan EDITION 11 December 2020 NEWS DETAIL | ID 5433077_36024805 |Daily Dunya ePaper|Roznama Dunya". e.dunya.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-01-06.
  14. ^ Bureau, Sikh24 Asia (17 December 2020). "New motorway approved to halve down the distance between Lahore and Kartarpur | Sikh24.com". Retrieved 2021-01-09.
  15. ^ PAF Conducts Fighter Operations from Motorway Pakistan Air Force, Government of Pakistan website, Published 2 April 2010, Retrieved 2 March 2022

External links[]

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