Motorways of Pakistan

Motorways of Pakistan
Pakistan motorway sign
Map
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 in Pakistan which are owned, maintained, and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority. At present, 2567 km of motorways are operational, while an additional 1191 km are under construction. 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. There are a total of 16 motorways, 11 of which are operational, while some are under construction and others are planned.

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]

History

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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.[2] 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

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Map of road systems in Pakistan
Name Route Length (km) Lanes Completion Year Status Remarks
M-1 M-1 Motorway Peshawar–Islamabad 155 6 2007 Operational
M-2 M-2 Motorway Islamabad–Lahore 375 6 1997 Operational Repaved in 2016
M-3 M-3 Motorway Lahore–Abdul Hakeem 230 6 2019

Operational

Construction began in December 2015.
M-4 M-4 Motorway Pindi Bhattian–Multan 309 4-6 2019

Operational

Construction began in 2009.
M-5 M-5 Motorway Multan–Sukkur 392 6 2019 Operational Construction began in May 2016.
M-6 M-6 Motorway Sukkur-Hyderabad 306 6 2024 Under Construction Ground breaking done on 13 December 2022
M-6 M-7 Motorway Dadu–Hub 270 N/A N/A Planned
M-8 M-8 Motorway Ratodero–Gwadar 892 2 2022 Partially Operational
Under Construction
M-9 M-9 Motorway Hyderabad–Karachi 136 6 2018 Operational Upgradation planned into 8 lanes.
M-10 M-10 Motorway Karachi Northern Bypass 57 2 2007 Operational Proposed for expansion into 4 lane.
M-11 M-11 Motorway Lahore–Sialkot 103 4 2020 Operational Construction started in 2018
M-12 M-12 Motorway Sialkot – Kharian 69 6 2025 Under Construction Construction started in September 2021
M-13 M-13 Motorway Kharian - Rawalpindi 117 6 2026 Under Construction
M-14 M-14 Motorway Islamabad–D.I Khan 285 4 2022 Operational Construction began in May 2016.

M-15

M-15 Motorway Hasan Abdal–Thakot 180 6-4-2 2020 Operational Also called Hazara Motorway. Construction began in 2016
M-16 M-16 Motorway Swabi – Chakdara 160 4 2020 Operational Also called Swat Motorway. Phase 1 operational in October 2020.Phase 2 construction started in May 2022 & will be completed in 2025.
Total Length

Other proposed motorways

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Name Route Length (km) Lanes Completion Year Status Remarks
Peshawar - D.I. Khan Motorway Peshawar – D.I. Khan 360 6 2026 Approved by ECNEC on 10 Sep 2021[3][4]
Dir–Swat motorway Dir – Swat 4 --
Mansehra–Muzaffarabad–Mirpur–Mangla Motorway (MMMM) Mansehra–Muzaffarabad–Mirpur–Mangla 174 4 Planned[5]
Peshawar–Kabul–Dushanbe motorway Peshawar–Kabul–Dushanbe 6 Planned Under Feasibility
Shorkot–Layyah Motorway Shorkot – Layyah 119 -- Connection with two CPEC routes[6]
Lahore–Kartarpur Motorway Lahore – Kartarpur Connection to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur[7]

Patrolling and enforcement

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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 use speed cameras for enforcing speed limits. The nationwide contact number from both mobiles and landlines is 130, and is available 24 hours a day.

M-TAG

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A RFID MTAG used for electronic toll collection in Pakistan.
A RFID MTAG used for electronic toll collection on controlled-access highways/motorways within Pakistan.

In 2016, NHA implemented electronic toll collection on M2 motorway in partnership with One Network that uses a RFID-based tag called the "M-TAG".[8] The tag is attached to the windscreen of vehicles and is automatically scanned at toll plazas on entry and exit, meanwhile debiting the calculated toll tax from a prepaid M-TAG account.[9][10] The service has since been expanded to all motorways, except M-14 and M-8, and is also used on Lahore Ring Road.[11][12]

Emergency runways

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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.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Highways Authority – Committed to Excellence". Retrieved 2020-10-24.
  2. ^ "Pakistan's smart motorways strength for regional connectivity". Global Village Space. 2021-10-12. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  3. ^ "KP CM congratulates people on approval of Peshawar-D.I Khan, Dir Motorway". dunyanews.tv. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  4. ^ "Peshawar-DI Khan Motorway PC-1 approved". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2021-09-12.
  5. ^ "AJK terms MMMM Expressway project of exceptional significance". www.nation.com.pk. Archived from the original on 2018-12-30.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ Bureau, Sikh24 Asia (17 December 2020). "New motorway approved to halve down the distance between Lahore and Kartarpur | Sikh24.com". Retrieved 2021-01-09. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ "Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway: Motorists demand restoration of e-tag system". The Express Tribune. 2016-09-10. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  9. ^ "Vehicles without M-Tag banned on M2". The Express Tribune. 2021-12-06. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  10. ^ "SERVICES". One Network. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  11. ^ Gulrez, Ali (2022-12-03). "M-TAG Now Operational on Multan-Sukkur Motorway M-5". INCPak. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  12. ^ Gulrez, Ali (2021-12-15). "MTag Registration Centers in Lahore". INCPak. Retrieved 2022-12-09.
  13. ^ PAF Conducts Fighter Operations from Motorway Pakistan Air Force, Government of Pakistan website, Published 2 April 2010, Retrieved 2 March 2022
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