M-9 motorway (Pakistan)

M-9 motorway
ایم ٩ موٹروے
Route information
Maintained by NHA
Length	136 km (85 mi)
Existed	2018–present
Major junctions
South-west end	Karachi (M10)
North-east end	Hyderabad (M6)
Location
Country	Pakistan
Major cities	Karachi Nooriabad Jamshoro Hyderabad
Highway system
Roads in Pakistan

History

Motorways were first proposed in Pakistan by the government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan's first motorway, the 367 km 6-lane M-2, was inaugurated in November 1997, making it the first motorway in South Asia. The M-2 has been followed by the completion of two additional motorways. In addition to the 54-kilometer 4-lane M-3, there is a 154-kilometer 6-lane M-1. On 11 March 2015, an inauguration ceremony was held for the M-9 Motorway with a planned completion date of August 2017. However, the deadline had slipped and the new inauguration occurred in April 2018. Pakistan's M9 motorway links Hyderabad and Karachi along its 138 km length in the Sindh province. The Motorway is an upgrade of old super highway by the FWO, responsible to built, operate for 25 years, and transferred to the NHA.

Quality and other issues with M-9 Motorway

M-9 Motorway is an upgrade of old super highway by the FWO, responsible to built, operate for 25 years, and transfer to the NHA. The re-construction quality of M-9 below the international and local motorway standards.

M-9 lacks following features compare to other motorways in Pakistan:

1. Quality of Pavement is low and in the past incident of unevenness of road surface happens for the M-9 Motorway.
2. Unlike the M-2, M-5 or M-3 motorways, service areas and amenities does not exists accordingly and are not fully maintained by the NHA.
3. Service roads and fence along the motorway are missing which enables the local traffic to join motorway at any given point instead of Intersections. Which includes traffic entering or exiting from the gas stations, hotels, etc.
4. Proper fence along the motorway are missing at various points which enables the pedestrians to jay walk or cross the motorway on feet.
5. Lane marking using the basic paint job was done, however proper directional cat eyes or lane marking reflectors were not installed.

Route

M9 begins north of Karachi near the junction of the Karachi Northern Bypass (also known as M10). The Karachi Northern Bypass and this road are connected via a trumpet interchange. After that, it leaves the city. Through a link road, it forms a junction with the N5 on a northeast track. The highway exits Karachi and enters the Thar Desert. Located outside the city of Hyderabad, the motorway ends at a cloverleaf interchange in Kotri. Afterward, it merges onto the N5.

Features

There are either six-lane or four-lane motorways with speed limits of 80 km/h for heavy transport vehicles and 120 km/h for light transport vehicles. For safety and to prevent unauthorized access, they feature a central median and are fenced on the outside. In Pakistan, fast-moving vehicles are the only vehicles allowed to enter motorways. Vehicles that are slow-moving are not allowed on motorways, including pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, and animal-driven carriages. However, heavy motorbikes are used for patrolling purposes by the Pakistani National Highway & Motorways Police.

Cost

In 2015, construction of the M-9 motorway started with 136 km of six-lane, four-interchange roads linking Karachi to Hyderabad at a cost of Rs36 billion. As a result of the four interchanges, Dadabhai, Industrial Valley, Nooriabad, and Thana Bola Khan, Tharparkar, Jimphir, Keenjhar, and other areas will also be connected. Eight kilometers of the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway have been diverted, with 75 km completed. In order to complete the remaining 53 kilometers, either the patches will be finished or parts of the existing highway will be incorporated into the M9 highway. Currently, over half of the M-9 motorway has been completed by the federal government, but the whole project is not expected to be completed until March 2018. It is intended to include:

• 136 km 6 lane facility.
• 275 km 2x lane service road on either side.
• 8 Interchanges.
• Karachi and Hyderabad toll plazas into 24 lane facilities.
• Weigh stations on new interchanges to check overloading
• Construction of 2 service areas.
• Construction of 2 trauma centers.

On 24 December 2020, a new toll plaza was inaugurated on the M-9. With 24 lanes (6 entry, 18 exit points), it is the largest toll plaza in Pakistan. In February 2022, the federal government decided to further upgrade the motorway from six to eight lanes due to cater to high traffic volume.

M-9 near Jamshoro Interchange

See also

• Motorways of Pakistan
• National Highways of Pakistan
• Transport in Pakistan
• National Highway Authority
• Transport in Karachi
• Lyari Expressway
• M-10 motorway (Pakistan)