Swat Expressway


The Swat Motorway (Urdu: سوات موٹر وے‎, Pashto: سوات بزرگراه‎ ), also known as the M-16 or Swat Expressway,[2] is a 160-kilometre-long (99 mi) four-lane motorway and provincial controlled-access highway in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Phase-1 of the project, completed in June 2019, connects the existing M-1 motorway at Nowshera to Chakdara while the under-construction second phase will extend the project to Fatehpur.[3]

M–16 Motorway
Swat Motorway
سوات موٹروے
Route information
Maintained by National Highway Authority
Length160 km[1] (100 mi)
Major junctions
North endFatehpur, Swat
South endNowshera
Highway system
Roads in Pakistan

Route

The phase-1 of motorway stretches from Nowshera to Chakdara in Lower Dir District, passing through Swabi, Mardan, Malakand and Swat districts. The phase-1 of the project was inaugurated in August 2016.[4] and opened for traffic on 3 June 2019[5] The phase-1 reduced the travel time from Nowshera to Chakdara from three hours to one hour. The Swat motorway phase-1 was constructed by the Frontier Works Organization at a cost of ₨36 billion (US$220 million) .[6][7] The Asian Development Bank and China provided the principal technical and financial assistance for the project, while Saudi Arabia pledged ₨3.4 billion (US$21 million) .[8][9]

Phase two of the motorway will extend another 79 kilometers to the north and terminate at Fatehpur. It will pass through Chakdara, Shamozai, Barikot, Mingora, Kanju, Malam Jabba, Sher Palam, Matta Khwazakhela, and ends at Madayan-Fatehpur Interchange. On 16 July 2020, ECNEC approved land acquisition for Swat Motorway Phase-II at a cost of Rs. 20 bn. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government allocated Rs. 70 bn. for the extension[10] The Swat motorway or M-16 should not be confused with the E90 Expressway (Besham–Khwazakhela Expressway) proposed by the National Highway Authority, which also terminates in Swat.

Swat Phase-II extension

Swat Motorway phase-II will be completed under a public-private partnership. The length of the motorway will be 80-kilometer. It will connect Chakdara to Fatehpur. The cost of the project is Rs. 37 billion with an additional Rs. 20.5 billion for the purchase of land. It will have nine interchanges and eight bridges. The motorway would have four lanes with the future possibility of extending it to six lanes.[11]

See also

Notes
  1. http://nha.gov.pk/wp-content/themes/nha/images/map-full.jpg
  2. Swat Motorway to be fully operational by June
  3. Swat Motorway Phase-II: KP CM wants modalities for project worked out
  4. ‘Game-changing’ Swat Motorway inaugurated
  5. Swat Motorway opened to light traffic
  6. Infrastructure: CM sanctions release of Rs2.3b for Swat Express Way
  7. Rs16bn 81-kilometer Swat Expressway
  8. ADB team assures CM of extending technical, financial support to mega projects in KP
  9. "Saudi Arabia pledges Rs3.4 billion for construction of Swat Expressway - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  10. http://urdu.dunyanews.tv/index.php/ur/Pakistan/531488
  11. TLTP (2020-10-21). "Swat Motorway phase-II to be completed under public-private partnership: KP CM". Profit by Pakistan Today. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
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