Motorways of Pakistan

A section of Pakistan's M-2 Motorway
The Pakistan motorway sign
The maximum speed limit on Pakistan's motorways is 120 km/h

The Motorways of Pakistan are a network of multiple-lane, high-speed, limited-access or controlled-access highways in Pakistan, which are owned, maintained and operated federally by Pakistan's National Highway Authority.

Expressways are similar to motorways with lesser access restrictions and are owned, maintained and operated either federally or provincially.

Features

Roadmap of Pakistan's National Highways and Motorways

Length

As of July 2014, operational motorways in Pakistan had a combined length of 679.5 km with another 278 km under construction. Another 1,502 km of motorways and expressways are planned over the next 10 years.

Lanes

Pakistan's motorways are either 6 or 4 lanes, with all 4-lane motorways upgradable to 6 lanes as traffic on them increases.

Speed limit

Pakistan's motorways have a universal minimum speed limit of 60 km/h and a maximum speed limit of 110 km/h for heavy transport vehicles and 120 km/h for light transport vehicles. In sections of the motorway that pass through hilly or mountainous terrain, the minimum and maximum speed limits are reduced.

Separation

Pakistan's motorways have central raised concrete or green medians and grade-separated junctions.

Access

Vehicles

Access to Pakistan's motorways is restricted to fast moving vehicles only, 2 Wheeler and 3 wheeler Vehicles are not allowed 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.

Tolling

Toll plazas are located on all entry and exit points of Pakistan's motorways and are equipped with a computerized tolling system. Computerized entry cards with magnetic strips are issued at entry points and tolls are levied at exit points depending on vehicle category and distance travelled. Pakistan's motorways are also equipped with pre-paid e-tolling systems that enable vehicles to pass through e-toll lanes in toll plazas without stopping.

Numbering

All motorways in Pakistan are prefixed 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. Expressways are pre-fixed with the letter "E".

List of motorways

Motorways
Name & Sign Course Length Lanes Completion Year Status Remarks
Peshawar – Islamabad 155 km 6 2007 Operational
Islamabad - Lahore 367 km 6 1997 Operational
Pindi Bhattian – Faisalabad 54 km 4 2003 Operational Connects the M-2 Motorway (near Pindi Bhattian) to Faisalabad and the M-4 Motorway
Faisalabad – Khanewal 233 km 4 2015 Section 1 operational & section 2 Under tender process. Under construction since 2009. Faisalabad-Gojra 58 KM section completed and opened for traffic. M4 Will connect with Lahore-Karachi Motorway at Khanewal.
Karachi – Lahore 1160 km 6 2020 Planned Land acquisition underway. Construction to commence in 2015.
Multan – D.G Khan 280 km 4 2020 Planned Land acquisition underway.
Dadu – Hub – Liyari 350 km 4 2017 Planned Construction is planned to commence in 2014.[1]
Ratodero – Gwadar 892 km 4 2018 Partially Operational/Under Construction 2-lane Ratodero-Shahdadkot section complete and operational. 2-lane Shahdadkot-Khuzdar section under construction. Work on Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab-Khuzdar section suspended for security reasons.[2]
Hyderabad – Karachi 136 km 6 2017 Under Construction Upgradation of existing Super Highway into 6-lane motorway. Under Construction since 11/03/2015 and will be completed in 2.5 Years.
M-9(Karachi Northern Bypass) 57 km 4 2009 Operational Currently 2-lanes, to be upgraded to 4-lanes

N/A = Not Available

List of expressways

Expressways
Sign Course/Name Length Lanes Completion Year Status Remarks
Peshawar - Torkham Expressway
(E-1)		 65 km 4 2023 Under Construction Will link Pakistan-Afghanistan Border at Torkham with M-1. Construction scheduled to commence in 2018 and completed in 2023.[3]
Peshawar Northern Bypass
(E-2)		 32 km 4 2013 Under Construction Will link M-1 with N-5[4]
Peshawar Ring Road 25 km 6 N/A Under Construction Orbital expressway around Peshawar
linked to M-1 and N-5
Hasan Abdal - Havelian - Mansehra - Shinkyari
Hazara Expressway (E-35)		 110 km 4 N/A Under construction Will connect the N-5 National Highway and M-1 Motorway at Burhan Interchange (near Hasanabdal) with the Karakoram Highway at Mansehra via Havelian and Abbottabad
Islamabad – Murree – Muzaffarabad Expressway (E-75)
 130 km 4 2011/2015 Partially Operational/Under Construction Islamabad-Murree section operational
Rawat – Thalian 29 km 4 N/A Planned
Lahore Bypass 7.5 km 4 2006 Operational Links M-2 to N-5
Lahore Ring Road 85 km 6 2011 (Northern Loop) 40 km Northern Loop Operational
45 km Southern Loop Planned		 Orbital expressway around Lahore
linked to M-2 and N-5. Construction of Southern Loop to commence in 2014
Lahore – Nankana Sahib Expressway 63 km 4 N/A Planned
Kot Sarwar - Hafizabad – Wazirabad Expressway (E-3) 100 km 4 2015 Under Construction
Khanewal – Lodhran (Bahawalpur) (E-5A) 103 km 4 2016 Planned Construction scheduled to commence in 2014.[5]
Ratodero - Daddu - Sehwan (E-5B) 200 km 8
Lyari Expressway (Karachi) 17 km 4 2010 Operational Links M-9 to Mauripur Road, Karachi
Muzaffarabad - Mirpur - Mangla Expressway 196 km 4 N/A Planned First Major road in Azad Kashmir

N/A = Not Available

History

Pakistan's motorways are part of Pakistan's "National Trade Corridor Project",[6] 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.

M-1 Motorway

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.

M-2 Motorway

Pakistan's first motorway, the 367 km 6-lane M-2, connecting the cities of Islamabad and Lahore, was constructed by the South Korean company Daewoo and was inaugurated in November 1997. It was also the first motorway to be built in South Asia.[7]

M-3 Motorway

The plan to construct Pakistan's second motorway, the 57 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 three interchanges near Sahianwala, Diyal Garh and Faisalabad were constructed in the second phase.[8]

M-4 Motorway

Construction of Pakistan's fourth motorway, the 233 km 4-lane M-4, began on 19 August 2009. Faisalabad-Gojra section completed and on 22 March 2015 opened for traffic, Other M-4 Additional Section Khanewal-Multan in under construction will be completed as soon as possible it is the part of KLM. it will link Multan with the M-3 Motorway at Faisalabad. It is Connected with 6 Major Cities of Pakistan (Gojra, Jhang, Toba Tek Singh, Shorkot, Khanewal & Multan). M-4 is begin at the termination of the M3 at the Sargodha Road Interchange on the northern outskirts of Faisalabad. It will continue on a southwest course connecting the cities of Faisalabad, Jhang, Gojra, Toba Tek Singh, Shorkot, Khanewal and Multan. Once at Khanewal, it will merge onto the N5 temporarily until the M5 is complete. The M-4 will have four sections: (i) Faisalabad-Gojra (58 km), (ii) Gojra-Shorkot (62 km), (iii) Shorkot-Din Pur-Khanewal (64 km) and (iv) Khanewal-Multan (45 km), whereas two large bridges will be constructed on the River Ravi and Sadhnai Canal.

M-5 Motorway

The M-5 is a planned 1,160 km long, 6-lane motorway that will link Lahore with Karachi.[9][10] This is also known for Karachi-Multan-Lahore Motorway,Short as KLM Project.

M-6 Motorway

The M-6 Motorway is a planned 365-kilometre long 4-Lane motorway that will link Dera Ghazi Khan (D.G Khan) with Ratodero

M-7 Motorway

The M-7 is a planned 270 km long, 4-lane motorway that will link Dadu with Hub.

M-8 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.

M-9 Motorway

The current 4-lane Hyderabad-Karachi "Super Highway" is in the process of being upgraded into a 6-lane access-controlled motorway, designated the "M-9". The M-9 Motorway will have 8 interchanges, 2 service areas at the midway points and 16 toll plazas on entry and exit points. M-9 Motorway construction is underway since from March 8 2015 and it will be complete in next 2.5 Years.

M-10 Motorway

The M10 is a motorway located in Sindh province, Pakistan, however it is mostly referred to as the Karachi Northern Bypass. It is 57 km long and consists of 4 lanes (2 lanes operational). The M10 begins north of Karachi at the end of Mohammad Ali Jinnah Road, near the junction of the M9 to which it is connected through a Trumpet interchange. It then continues north for a few kilometers before turning west, where it forms an interchange with the N25. After this interchange it eventually turns south back towards Karachi and merges onto the KPT Flyover at Karachi Port.

Patrolling and enforcement

A patrol car of Pakistan's National Highways & Motorway Police on 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 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 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 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.[11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/islamabad/28-Oct-2013/nha-to-build-new-motorways-expressways
  2. ↑ http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/islamabad/28-Oct-2013/nha-to-build-new-motorways-expressways
  3. ↑ http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/islamabad/28-Oct-2013/nha-to-build-new-motorways-expressways
  4. ↑ http://downloads.nha.gov.pk/nhadocs/bidding-documents-construstion-of-peshawar-northern-bypass-package-ii-charsada-road-warsak-road-part-01-vol-iii.pdf
  5. ↑ http://downloads.nha.gov.pk/nhadocs/bidding-documents-construstion-of-peshawar-northern-bypass-package-ii-charsada-road-warsak-road-part-01-vol-iii.pdf
  6. ↑ http://www.adb.org/Documents/Environment/PAK/40075/40075-PAK-SEIA.pdf
  7. ↑ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17441654
  8. ↑ http://archives.dawn.com/2003/10/02/nat30.htm
  9. ↑ http://www.ppra.org.pk/doc/12-3/nha123-34.pdf
  10. ↑ http://downloads.nha.gov.pk/nhadocs/eoi-for-construction-of-karachi--lahore-motorway-(klm).pdf
  11. ↑ http://www.paf.gov.pk/press_release/uploaded/MOTORWAY-RELEASE02-04-10.pdf

External links