Motorways of Pakistan
Motorways of Pakistan | |
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![]() Pakistan motorway sign | |
System information | |
Maintained by National Highway Authority | |
Length | 3,741 km (2,325 mi) |
Formed | 1997 |
Highway names | |
System links | |
Motorways of Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان کے موٹروے) are a network of multiple-lane, high-speed, controlled-access highways mostly in Punjab, which are owned, maintained, and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority. As of Feb 2021, 2429 km of motorways are operational, while an additional 1312 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".[citation needed][1][2]
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/M2-Motorway.jpg/220px-M2-Motorway.jpg)
Pakistan's motorways are an important part of Pakistan's "National Trade Corridor Project",[3] 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. 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 | |
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M-1 motorway (Pakistan) | Peshawar–Islamabad | 155 | 6 | 2007 | Operational | Hazara Expressway (M-15) interchange completed in 2018. Swat Motorway (M-16) interchange completed In October 2020. |
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M2 motorway (Pakistan) | Islamabad–Lahore | 334 | 6 | 1997 | Operational | Repaved in 2016 |
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M-3 motorway (Pakistan) | Lahore–Abdul Hakeem | 230 | 6 | 2019 |
Operational |
Construction began in December 2015. |
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M-4 motorway (Pakistan) | Pindi Bhattian–Multan | 309 | 4-6 | 2019 |
Operational |
Construction began in 2009. |
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M-5 motorway (Pakistan) | Multan–Sukkur | 392 | 6 | 2019 | Operational | Construction began in May 2016. |
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M-6 motorway (Pakistan) | Sukkur-Hyderabad | 296 | 6 | 2022 | Planned | Pending due to NHA and GoP negligence since 2016. No Financial approval yet. |
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M-7 motorway (Pakistan) | Dadu–Hub | 270 | N/A | N/A | Planned | |
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M-8 motorway (Pakistan) | Ratodero–Gwadar | 892 | 2 | 2022 | Partially Operational Under Construction |
Operational between Hoshab-Gwadar and Khuzdar-Ratodero. |
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M-9 motorway (Pakistan) | Hyderabad–Karachi | 136 | 6 | 2018 | Operational | An upgrade of the previous Super Highway by FWO. |
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M-10 motorway (Pakistan) | Karachi Northern Bypass | 57 | 2 | 2007 | Operational | Ordinary bi-directional single lane road, Proposed for expansion into 4 lane. |
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M-11 motorway (Pakistan) | Lahore–Sialkot | 103 | 4 | 2020 | Operational | Construction was started in 2017 |
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M-12 motorway (Pakistan) | Sialkot – Kharian | 70 | 6 | 2022 | Planned | Construction will start from June 2021. Expansion of the M-11 motorway. |
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M-13 motorway (Pakistan) | Kharian - Rawalpindi | 115 | 6 | 2023 | Planned | |
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M-14 motorway (Pakistan) | Islamabad–D.I Khan | 285 | 4 | 2021 | Under Construction | Construction began in May 2016. |
M-15 motorway (Pakistan) | Hasan Abdal–Thakot | 180 | 6-4-2 | 2020 | Operational | Construction began in 2016 | |
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M-16 motorway (Pakistan) | Swabi – Chakdara | 160 | 4 | 2020 | Operational | Also called Swat Motorway. Extension planned but currently fully operational in October 2020. |
Total Length | 3741 |
Other proposed motorways
Name | Route | Length (km) | Lanes | Completion Year | Status | Remarks |
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Peshawar-D.I. Khan Motorway | Peshawar-D.I. Khan | 360 | 6 | 2024 | Construction will start from April 2021[4] | Approved by KPK Cabinet on 21 December[5] |
Dir-Swat motorway | Dir - Swat | 2 | 2024 | |||
Peshawar–Kabul–Dushanbe motorway | Peshawar–Kabul–Dushanbe | 6 | Under Feasibility | |||
Shorkot-Layyah motorway | Shorkot –Layyah | 119 | 4 | 2025 | Connection with two CPEC routes[6] | |
Lahore-Kartarpur motorway | Lahore - Kartarpur | Connection to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur[7] |
Map
Network map
Patrolling and enforcement
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Motorway_Police_Pakistan.jpg/220px-Motorway_Police_Pakistan.jpg)
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: for 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.[8]
See also
- National Highways of Pakistan
- Expressways of Pakistan
- Transport in Pakistan
- Speed limits in Pakistan
- Belt and Road Initiative
- National Highway Authority
References
- ^ "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.
- ^ "National Highways Authority – Committed to Excellence". Retrieved 2020-10-24.
- ^ http://www.adb.org/Documents/Environment/PAK/40075/40075-PAK-SEIA.pdf[permanent dead link]
- ^ "PTI Govt To Construct More Roads With Own Resources: Murad Saeed". UrduPoint. Retrieved 2021-02-12.
- ^ TLTP (2020-12-21). "KP govt approves Peshawar-DI Khan motorway project". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 2020-12-22.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Bureau, Sikh24 Asia. "New motorway approved to halve down the distance between Lahore and Kartarpur | Sikh24.com". Retrieved 2021-01-09.
{{cite web}}
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has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ http://www.paf.gov.pk/press_release/uploaded/MOTORWAY-RELEASE02-04-10.pdf