Motorways of Pakistan

Motorways of Pakistan (Urdu: پاکستان کی موٹروے‎) are a network of multiple-lane, high-speed, controlled-access highways in Pakistan, which are owned, maintained, and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority. As of 18 March 2020, 1973 km of motorways are operational, while an additional 1763 km are under construction or planned. All motorways in Pakistan are pre-fixed 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".

Motorways of Pakistan
Pakistan motorway sign
System information
Length	3,736 km (2,321 mi)
Formed	1997
Highway names
System links
Roads in Pakistan

History

M2 motorway in the Salt Range

Pakistan's motorways are an important part of Pakistan's "National Trade Corridor Project",[1] 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

Map

Pakistan's motorway network as of March 2020

Name	Route	Length (km)	Lanes	Completion Year	Status	Remarks
	Peshawar–Islamabad	155	6	2007	Operational	Hazara Expressway interchange completed in 2018.
	Islamabad–Lahore	334	6	1997	Operational	Repaved in 2016
	Lahore–Abdul Hakeem	230	6	2019	Operational	Construction began in December 2015.
	Pindi Bhattian–Multan	309	4-6	2019	Operational	Construction began in 2009.
	Multan–Sukkur	392	6	2019	Operational	Construction began in May 2016.
	Sukkur-Hyderabad	296	6	2023	Planned	Land Acquisition is Completed. No ground work has started as of July 2020.
	Dadu-Hub	540	6		Planned
	Ratodero–Gwadar	892	2		Partially Operational Under Construction	Operational between Hoshab-Gwadar and Khuzdar-Ratodero.
	Hyderabad–Karachi	136	6	2018	Operational	Construction began in September 2015.
	Karachi Northern Bypass	57	2	2007	Operational	Proposed for expansion into 4 lane.
	Sialkot–Lahore	135	4 - 6	2020	Operational	Construction began in April 2017.
	Hakla–D.I Khan	280	4	2020	Under Construction	Construction began in May 2016.
	Hasan Abdal–Thakot	180	2 - 6	2020	Operational	Extension from Mansehra to Thakot completed in July 2020
	Swat Motorway	160	4	2021	Partially Operational Under Construction	Operational from Nowshera to Chakdara

Patrolling and enforcement

Motorway police patrolling at M2

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.[2]

See also

• National Highways of Pakistan
• Expressways of Pakistan
• Transport in Pakistan
• Speed limits in Pakistan

References

1. http://www.adb.org/Documents/Environment/PAK/40075/40075-PAK-SEIA.pdf%5B%5D
2. http://www.paf.gov.pk/press_release/uploaded/MOTORWAY-RELEASE02-04-10.pdf

External links

• National Highway Authority
• Pakistan National Highways & Motorway Police