Highlands Highway

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The Highlands Highway is the main land highway for Papua New Guinea. It connects several major cities and is vital for the movement of people and goods between the Highlands region and the coast.

It starts in Lae and goes through the Markham Valley. After this a branch travels through the Ramu valley in Madang Province and ends in the coast in the provincial capital of Madang itself. From the Markham Valley the Highlands Highway runs up and over the 1500 m Kassam Pass and into the Eastern Highlands province. It passes through the provincial capital of Goroka and then over the 2478 m Daulo Pass. It then crosses into Simbu province and through its capital of Kundiawa. From there it reaches the Waghi valley, which marks the start of the Western Highlands province. It continues through the provincial capital of Mount Hagen and, at a small town called Togopa, it splits. A southern branch continues on to the Southern Highlands province and its capital of Mendi before going on to Tari. The other branch goes to Enga province and its capital of Wabag before ending in Porgera.

For most of its length the Highlands Highway is little more than a single carriageway two-lane road plagued by potholes and land slips. It is notorious for being the place of numerous armed hold-ups and robberies committed by thugs called rascals (or raskol in Tok Pisin), particularly in the areas west of Mount Hagen. In 2006 the highway was resurfaced by the Australian government AusAid Program. Several Japanese and Taiwanese projects have contributed to rebuilding or replacement of important bridges. The Porgera Gold Mine (PJV) is a major user of the Highlands Highway for transport of all it's consumables and equipment from Lae port, and conequently spends an enormous amount of time and money on maintaining the road - most often the portion from Mt Hagen to Porgera, upgrading cuttings, bridges and culverts.