Motorways of Pakistan


Motorways of Pakistan 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' followed by the unique numerical designation of the specific highway, e.g. "M-1".

History

Pakistan's motorways are an important part of Pakistan's "National Trade Corridor Project", which aims to link Pakistan's three Arabian Sea ports 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 using Pakistani motorways, national highways, and expressways.

List of motorways

Map

NameRouteLength LanesCompletion YearStatusRemarks
Peshawar–Islamabad15562007 OperationalHazara Expressway interchange completed in 2018.
Islamabad–Lahore33461997 OperationalRepaved in 2016
Lahore–Abdul Hakeem23062019Construction began in December 2015.
Pindi Bhattian–Multan3094-62019Construction began in 2009.
Multan–Sukkur39262019 OperationalConstruction began in May 2016.
Sukkur-Hyderabad29662023Land Acquisition is Completed. No ground work has started as of July 2020.
Dadu-Hub5406
Ratodero–Gwadar8922Operational between Hoshab-Gwadar and Khuzdar-Ratodero.
Hyderabad–Karachi13662018 OperationalConstruction began in September 2015.
Karachi Northern Bypass5722007 OperationalProposed for expansion into 4 lane.
Sialkot–Lahore1354 - 62020 OperationalConstruction began in April 2017.
Hakla–D.I Khan28042020 Under ConstructionConstruction began in May 2016.

Hasan Abdal–Thakot1802 - 62020 OperationalExtension from Mansehra to Thakot completed in July 2020
Swat Motorway16042021Operational from Nowshera to Chakdara
M-17Peshawar -Torkham50On 16 July 2020, ECNEC approves 77bn for it.
The Peshawar-Torkham Motorway is part of the 265 KM Peshawar-Jalalabad-Kabul Motorway Project.

Patrolling and enforcement

Pakistan's Motorways are patrolled by Pakistan's National Highways & Motorway Police, 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 and the M-2 motorway each include two emergency runway sections of length. The four emergency runway sections become operational by removing removable concrete medians using forklifts. The Pakistan Air Force 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 and an F-7P, during its Highmark 2010 exercise.