The Motorways of Pakistan are a network of high-speed, limited-access or controlled-access highways in Pakistan, which are owned, maintained and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority.
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As of December 2011, operational motorways in Pakistan had a combined length of 679.5 km with another 278 km under construction. Another 1,200 km of motorways and expressways are planned over the next 10 years.
Pakistan's motorways are either 6-lanes or 4-lanes, with all 4-lane motorways upgradable to 6-lanes as traffic on them increases.
Pakistan's motorways have a universal minimum speed limit of 80 km/h and a maximum speed limit of 100 km/h for heavy transport vehicles and 120 km/h for light transport vehicles.
Pakistan's motorways have a central raised concrete median and grade-separated junctions.
Access to Pakistan's motorways is restricted to fast moving vehicles only, including high-performance heavy bikes. The motorways are fenced on either side for safety and prevention of unauthorized access by pedestrians, animals and slow-moving vehicles. Pedestrians, bicycles, low-performance motorcycles, animal-driven carriages and other slow-moving vehicles are not permitted on the motorways.
All motorways in Pakistan are pre-fixed with the letter "M" (for "Motorway") followed by the unique numerical designation of the specific motorway. Each numerical designation is separated by a single numeral, i.e. M-1, M-2, M-3, etc.
Pakistan's motorways are 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 and further north with Afghanistan, Central Asia and China.
The construction of motorways in Pakistan was first envisaged by the government of former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif.[1]
Pakistan's first motorway, the 367 km 6-lane M-2, connecting the cities of Islamabad and Lahore, was constructed by South Korea's Dawoo Corporation and was inaugurated in November 1997 and was the first motorway to be built in South Asia.[2]
The plan to constuct Pakistan's second motorway, the 54 km 4-lane M-3, linking the Pindi Bhattian Junction on the M-2 with Faisalabad was finalized in 1996 with an estimated cost of Rs. 8 billion. Initially, it was planned to have 6-lanes, however, due to the shortage of funds, it was decided reduce the number of lanes to 4 with an option to upgrade it to 6-lanes in future. Construction of the M-3 began in May 2002 and it was completed ahead of schedule in September 2003 at a cost of Rs 5.3 billion. It was inaugurated and opened for traffic on 2 October 2003. Two bridges, one over a railway track and the second on a canal, were constructed on the motorway, while two interchanges near Sahianwala and Faisalabad were constructed in the second phase.[3]
Pakistan's third motorway, the 155 km 6-lane M-1, linking Peshawar with the federal capital, Islamabad, has been operational since 30 October 2007.
Construction of Pakistan's fourth motorway, the 233 km 4-lane M-4, began on 19 August 2009. Once completed, it will link Multan with the M-3 Motorway at Faisalabad.
The M-5 is a planned 4 lane motorway that will link Multan with Dera Ghazi Khan. It will be constructed after the completion of the M-4 Motorway.
The M-6 is a planned 4 lane motorway that will link Dera Ghazi Khan with Ratodero. It will be constructed after the completion of the M-5 Motorway.
The 892 km 4-lane M-8 is under-construction in Sindh and Balochistan provinces. Initially, it will have 2 lanes with a further 2 lanes planned. The 4 lane motorway will be upgradable to 6 lanes. Once completed it will directly link the port city of Gwadar with the rest of Pakistan's motorway network at Ratodero where it will link up with the M-6 Dera Ghazi Khan-Ratodero Motorway.
| Sign | Name | Route | Lanes | Length | Status | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M-1 | Peshawar - Islamabad | 6 Lanes | 155 km | Operational | Operational since 30 October 2007 | |
| M-2 | Islamabad - Lahore | 6 Lanes | 367 km | Operational | Operational since November 1997 | |
| M-3 | Pindi Bhattian - Faisalabad | 4 Lanes | 54 km | Operational | Operational since 2 October 2003.[4] Connects M2 near Pindi Bhattian to Faisalabad | |
| M-4 | Faisalabad - Multan | 4 Lanes | 233 km | Under Construction | Construction began on 19 August 2009 | |
| M-5 | Multan - Dera Ghazi Khan | 4 Lanes | - | Planned | ||
| M-6 | Dera Ghazi Khan - Ratodero | 4 Lanes | - | Planned | ||
| M-7 | Dadu - Dureji - Hub | 4 Lanes | 270 km | Planned | ||
| M-8 | Ratodero - Gwadar | 4 Lanes | 892 km | Under Construction | Initially 2 lanes with a further 2 lanes planned. Construction began on 15 October 2004. As of December 2011, 80% of Hoshab-Gwadar complete | |
| M-9 | Hyderabad - Karachi | 6 Lanes | 136 km | Planned | M9 is currently the 4-Lane Super Highway that will be upgraded to a 6-Lane access-controlled motorway.[5] Expression of Interest (EOI) were invited by the NHA in May 2011[6] | |
| M-10 | Linking M9 with N-25 north of Karachi | 4 Lanes | 57 km | Operational | Currently 2 lanes with an additional 2 lanes planned[7] | |
| Lahore Northern Bypass | Linking M2 to N-5 north of Lahore | 4 Lanes | 7.5 km | Operational | ||
| Lahore Ring Road | Orbital motorway around Lahore (Linked to M-2 and N-5) | 6 Lanes | 85 km | Partially Operational | 40 km Operational, 45 km Under Construction | |
| Torkham-Peshawar Expressway (E-?) | Torkham - Peshawar | 4 Lanes | - | Planned | Will connect Pak-Afghan Border at Torkham with M1 | |
| Islamabad-Murree-Muzaffarabad Expressway (E-?) | Islamabad - Murree - Muzaffarabad | 4 Lanes | - | Partially Operational | Islamabad-Murree Section Operational/Murree-Muzaffarabad Section Under Construction | |
| Hasanabdal-Mansehra Expressway (E-35) | Hasanabdal - Mansehra | 4 Lanes | 110 km | Under Construction | Will link M-1 and N-5 with the Karakoram Highway. Phase-1: 60-km section from Burhan Interchange on M-1 Motorway to Mansehra | |
| Rawat-Thullian Expressway (E-?) | Rawat - Thullian | 4 Lanes | 29 | Planned | Access-controlled expressway linking N-5 with M-2[8] | |
| Lahore-Nankana Sahib Expressway (E-?) | Lahore - Nankana Sahib | 4 Lanes | 63 | Planned | Access-controlled expressway[9] |
Pakistan's Motorways are patrolled by Pakistan's National Highways and 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.
The M1 motorway (Peshawar-Islamabad) and the M2 motorway (Islamabad-Lahore) each include two emergency runway sections of 9,000 ft. length each. The four emergency runway sections become operational by removing removable concrete medians using forklifts. The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has used the M2 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 M2 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.[10]
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