Pakistan motorways undoubtedly play a key role in promoting trade and commerce within Pakistan. In addition, these roads also help promote tourism in the country and contribute to the overall economy. The National Highway Authority (NHA) is an organization that oversees and maintains most of Pakistan’s highways and motorways. This article will provide you with information about the Motorways of Pakistan: NHA, their operational status, and future plans for expansion.
National Trade Corridor and CPEC Project
Pakistan motorways is part of the National Trade Corridor Project. This project is an initiative to link the Arabian Sea ports of Gwadar Port, Karachi Port, and the Port Bin Qasim with the rest of Pakistan. The project aims to augment trade and export revenue between the country and its northern borders. This is done by investing in the infrastructure development and improving the transportation channels between northern Pakistan and southern ports such as Karachi and Gwadar.
This motorway project is also a major part of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which aims to connect Gwadar Port and Kashgar using motorways, national highways, and expressways. Construction on CPEC projects began in 2015 with an estimated cost of $11 billion for road infrastructure and $37 billion for energy projects.
Number of Motorways in Pakistan
There are 2790 km of motorways currently in operation. One additional 1204 km will be built by 2025, bringing the total to 3904km (or roughly 25% of Pakistan’s road network). Also, Pakistan has a total road network of 158,000 kilometers out of which only 7000 kilometers (approximately 44%) is paved.
The Pakistan motorway network currently consists of 16 motorways: M-1, M-2, M-3, M-4, M-5,M-6 (planned), M-7(planned), M-8 (partially operational and under-construction), M-9, M-10, M-11, M-12 (under-construction), M-13 (planned), M-14, M-15, M-16. The total length is around 3994 kilometers.
| Name | Routes | Length (Km) | Status |
| M-1 Motorway Pakistan | Peshawar – Islamabad | 155 | Operational |
| M-2 Motorway Pakistan | Lahore – Islamabad | 367 | Operational |
| M-3 Motorway Pakistan | Lahore – Abdul Hakeem | 230 | Operational |
| M-4 Motorway Pakistan | Pindi Bhattian – Multan | 309 | Operational |
| M-5 Motorway Pakistan | Multan – Sukkur | 392 | Operational |
| M-6 Motorway Pakistan | Sukkur Hyderabad | 306 | planned |
| M-7 Motorway Pakistan | Dadu – Hub | 270 | planned |
| M-8 Motorway Pakistan | Ratodero – Gwadar | 892 | under-construction |
| M-9 Motorway Pakistan | Hyderabad – Karachi | 136 | Operational |
| M-10 Motorway Pakistan | Karachi Northern Bypass | 57 | Operational |
| M-11 Motorway Pakistan | Lahore – Sialkot | 103 | Operational |
| M-12 Motorway Pakistan | Sialkot – Kharian | 70 | under-construction |
| M-13 Motorway Pakistan | Kharian – Rawalpindi | 117 | planned |
| M-14 Motorway Pakistan | Islamabad – D.I Khan | 285 | Operational |
| M-15 Motorway Pakistan | Hasan Abdal – Thakot | 180 | Operational |
| M-16 Motorway Pakistan | Swabi – Chakdara | 160 | Operational |
M-1 Motorway Pakistan
The M1 motorway is one of the longest and fastest highways in Pakistan. It was constructed during the presidency of General Pervez Musharraf and opened to the public on October 26, 2007. This motorway is the main highway to connect the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province to the Punjab province of Pakistan. The M1 is a major artery for transportation and logistics, specifically in carrying goods meant for Islamabad.
The motorway also has a spur leading to Dera Ismail Khan in neighbouring Punjab province. The motorway runs for 1,450 kilometres (900 mi). It has interchanges at Airport link road, Islamabad, at AWT/ Sanjiani/ Paswal, Burma Bhatar, Burhan (Hassanabadal/ Kamra), Hazara Express(E-35), Ghazi, Chachh, Sawabi, Rashakai, Charsadda and at the Peshawar Northern Bypass and the Peshawar Ring Road. At Brahma Bahtar Interchange, the Brahma Bahtar-Yarik Motorway has commenced towards Dera Ismail Khan. There are 3 major bridges along the route along the Haro, Indus and Kabul rivers and 18 flyovers present along the route. A total of 1 service area located on both sides are present.
M-2 Motorway Pakistan
The M-2 is a 367 km motorway that connects Islamabad to Lahore. The route spans the provinces of Punjab and is the first highway to have been built in South Asia. The M-2 motorway also crosses the junction of SH86 (to Gujrat). Also this highways in Pakistan are part of the Asian Highway Network.
Once it crosses the Ravi River, M-2 diverges from the N-5 (also known as GT or Grand Trunk Road) and heads west towards Sheikhupura. After passing the Sheikhupura Interchange, it enters the Salt Ranges. Once past the Salt Ranges, the M-2 turns north and ends just west of Rawalpindi at the junction between the Islamabad Link Road and the M1.
Through the Freeway, major services and facilities are easily accessible. Some of these include fast food restaurants (including KFC, McDonald’s, Hardees and Subway) and bakeries in some service areas, restrooms at all interchanges, and petrol pumps in most of the rest areas. Major services areas include Sukheki, Sial ,Bhera, Kalar Kahar and Chakri. An electronic e-tag system, similar to the system in Singapore, has been implemented so that drivers can pay their tolls electronically.
M-3 Motorway Pakistan
The M3 motorway is a north-south route in Pakistan, connecting the Lahore end of the M2 to the M4 near Abdul Hakeem. The M3 motorway is parallel to the M4 motorway and takes an eastern route from Lahore to Abdul Hakeem city, while the M4 motorway connects the same city from the M2.
The M3 Motorway was inaugurated by the Federal Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafique, on 31 March 2019. The motorway connects Lahore to the populous southern districts of Sahiwal and Lodhran, reducing travel time between Lahore and Multan by at least 1 hour. The motorway also serves as a bypass to the congested ground. Soon after its completion, the motorway will further be linked with the M4P and M4L motorways near Jahanian (Khanewal) via Guddu Motorway.
M-4 Motorway Pakistan
The M4 Motorway is a major motorway located in Pakistan. It connects Faisalabad and Multan via the cities of Okara, Sahiwal and Khanewal. Alternately it can be reached by connecting to the M2, M3 and M5 motorways. The motorway was planned as part of Pakistan’s Motorway Network from Faisalabad to Multan and was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Pakistan Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani in 2009.
The Motorway begins at the city of Shamkot Village at Mardan Khattak, crossing over the Indus River near Kacha Noor and ends at the city of Sahiwal. The M-4 runs parallel to the existing railway line between Multan and Faisalabad, beginning at Shamkot Village and ending at Sahiwal. This railway line goes along the left side of the road; however, it can not be clearly visible from this route. The Motorway forms part of Corridor IV of National Highway Authority’s (NHA) Motorway network from Peshawar to Lahore and Islamabad, providing direct links to all major urban centres in between, including Khanewal, Rajan Pur, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan.
Moreover, the motorway has four interchanges which include Shamkot (Khanewal), Shah Rukn-e-Alam Interchange, Shah Shams Tabrez Interchange and Sher Shah Interchange.
M-5 Motorway Pakistan
The M5 (or Sukker-Multan) is a motorway starting from Multan in Punjab to Sukkur in Sindh. It was constructed by China Civil and Engineering Company with an approximate cost of $2.94 billion and was under construction for more than five years.
This motorway was built to reduce the travel time from Sukkur to Multan from 8 hours to 1.5 hours, provide better and safer transportation of goods, and reduce the amount of congestion in Karachi.
M-9 Motorway Pakistan
The M-9, or N-5 National Highway, is a 136-km long 6-lane motorway connecting the cities of Hyderabad and Karachi. The M-9, along with other motorways in Pakistan, was built to help reduce congestion on the N-5 National Highway. The project will reduce the traveling time between Karachi and Hyderabad and can be considered as a culmination of efforts to rehabilitate this vital corridor servicing over 75% of Sindh’s population and contributing 40% of its GDP.
It was constructed by the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) and Think Transportation was the Traffic Consultant for the motorway. The ground breaking ceremony for the project was held in March 2015, with an expected completion date of August 2017. However, due to undelivered agreements from the Sindh provincial and federal governments, the project has been delayed by over three years, and the cost of the project has increased.
M-10 Motorway Pakistan
The M-10 motorway, also known as the Karachi Northern Bypass, is a two-lane access-controlled motorway between the Northern Bypass interchange on the M9 motorway and the Karachi Port. The M-10 is part of Pakistan’s “Enhanced Motorways Project” for the money spent on construction of motorways of the country, which benefits the city by providing easy access to transporters near Karachi Port and easy accessibility to Karachi.
This motorway begins at the end of Mohammad Ali Jinnah road. 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.
M-11 Motorway Pakistan
The Sialkot-Lahore Motorway or M-11 is a 103-kilometre long north-south motorway in Punjab, Pakistan, which connects Sialkot to Lahore via the eastern parts of Punjab. The construction of this motorway started in 2011 and was completed at the cost of Rs 44 billion in March 2019. This motorway connects the Sialkot and Lahore Airport junctions on this express travel mode of 1 hour and will uplift the Sialkot city and the surrounding rural hinterlands.
The M11 motorway follows GT Road, and bypass Gujranwala, Daska, and end at Sambrial. It’s a 4-lane 9x highway with 8 flyovers, 20 bridges, 18 underpasses, 3 industrial zones, and 2 universities.
M-14 Motorway Pakistan
The M-14 is a modern four-lane highway that connects the Islamabad–Dera Ismail Khan metropolitan area to the southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The highway is part of the Western Alignment of the China—Pakistan Economic Corridor and will offer high-speed road connections between the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area and the southern parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province around Dera Ismail Khan. It was opened in late December 2021.
The M-14 Motorway has 11 interchanges, 19 flyovers (6 lanes), 15 bridges (4 lanes), 74 underpasses and 259 culverts. A 100 meters extra width is allocated for the expansion of the four-lane road to six lanes in future to cater for increasing traffic volumes.
M-15 Motorway Pakistan
The Hazara Motorway is a 180 kilometre-long expressway in Pakistan. It has a four-lane road with one of the tallest bridges in the country. This motorway links east to western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and is an important part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Construction of M-15 Motorway (also known as Islamabad-Lahore Motorway) began in January 2015. The motorway is designed to be 8 lanes and will be 332 kilometres (207 mi) long. It has 68 interchanges, and 10 toll plazas.. The Hasan Abdal to Mansehra section was opened on 27 December 2017 and the Chakri to Hassan Abdal section was inaugurated on 18 November 2018 by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The M15 Motorway connects many key regions in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, such as Haripur, Havelian, Abbottabad, Mansehra, Shinkiari, Battagram, and Thakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
M-16 Motorway Pakistan
M16 Motorway is a high-speed route through the Swat valley. It starts from Kernal Sher Khan Interchange on M1 Motorway and ends in the vicinity of the Chakdara bridge on National Highway N-45 at the far south of Swat Valley.
The M-16 motorway is a 160 km long motorway in Pakistan. It is also known as Swat Expressway and N-85. The motorway connects the cities of Islamabad, Peshawar, Mansehra, Swat and Malakand with a major objective of reducing travel time between the cities. In addition the road is also intended to develop economic activity along its route and improve access to areas not connected by rail or roads. The M-16 Motorway starts from Nowshera at the junction with Grand Trunk Road (N-5) and ends at Chakdara (Near Kalam).
By the motorway the distance between Malakand and Swat districts reduced to 3 hours only. This reduced hours are benefitting in terms of economy, trade and tourism.
We have discussed the various intercity routes in detail. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or feedback that can help improve the quality of our content, please share it with us at info@tameerkaro.com. For any construction related inquiry visit our website.