Motorway

Introduction

• Pakistan Motorway Project was originally conceived by Mr. Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, to provide a country wide link of limited access high speed highway to bring most parts of the country together which could result in greater economic growth, commercial activity and trade with ECO countries.

Mission

• The mission of the motorway project is to provide the public with a safe and efficient country wide transportation system. The system increases access and mobility, reduces congestion, improves the environment, and supports economic development, thereby enhancing quality of life.

Vision• The vision of the motorway project is to

provide a transportation system that allows anyone to go anywhere in the region easily and efficiently.

Introduction of M-2

• The M-2 is a motorway in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is 367 km long and connects Lahore with Islamabad.

• The M2 was the first motorway completed in 1998, linking the cities of Islamabad and Lahore. In the past 5 years, many new motorways have opened up including the M1, M3.

TitleLength

Lahore-Islamabad motorway367 km

TypeDirection

PublicNorth-South

Start Lahore

Primary destinations Faislabad, Sargodha, Rawalpindi

End Islamabad

LocationConstruction dates

Pakistan1992 - 1997

Major junctions M-3

OwnerCost

NHA PakistanRs. 30.5 billion.

Facts about M-2

Initialization• The construction of motorways began in

the early 1990s with the idea building a world class road network and to reduce the load off the heavily used national highways throughout the country.

Planning

• The proposed Pakistan Motorway project was approximately 3000 km long network of access controlled, signal free highways.

• Key considerations included: • Transport network performance • Accessibility and opportunity for public transport

and other transport modes • Local area accessibility and connectivity • Social impact • Environmental impact • Engineering feasibility and construction staging

Planning The criteria used to evaluate the options included: • Motorway operations • Sufficient through lane and interchange capacity • Appropriate interchange and ramp spacing • Motorway access only via interchanges with

major roads • High quality road design standards • Operational efficiency • Connections with the local road network • Access to major centers • Environmental impacts

Execution

• It was a massive project involving 3 major river bridges, 8 interchanges, 27 flyovers, 17 bridges on canal, 39 bridges on drains and 4 overhead railway crossings

• The project was approved by the National Highway Council headed by the Prime minister of Pakistan in 1992.

• 60 percent financing was done by the Government of Pakistan and 40 percent financing through foreign loans.

• The project was completed in December 1997 at an estimated cost of Rs. 30.5 billion.

Ending

• The M2 was the first motorway completed in 1998.

• The project was completed sucessfully.

• It had the following benefits and deficiencies.

Benefits of the Project

• The Lahore-Islamabad motorway is beneficial for Pakistan as it improves the socio economics condition of the country.

• It reduces congestion from GT road.

• Saves time.

• Saves fuel.

Deficiencies of the project

•      Neglecting to do the EIA: Environmental Impact Assessment report of the project required under section 8 of the then in vogue Pakistan Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983 was neither prepared nor subjected to any review/approval process at the time of initiation, construction or even at completion stage of the project.

Deficiencies of the project

    Consequences are adverse irreversible impact: This motorway passes through the agricultural belt of the province of Punjab and is associated with several positive and negative impacts on the life of the people living in the urban and rural areas along the motorway.

• Financial resources diverted.