The M-14 Motorway, also known as the Islamabad–Dera Ismail Khan Motorway () and the Hakla–Yarik Motorway, is a four-lane North-South

motorway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. The

is a part of the

Western Alignment The Western Alignment refers to the portions of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which are located in the Pakistani provinces of northwestern Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, Pakistan, Balochistan. The ...

of the

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) (; ur, چین پاکستان اقتصادی راہداری) is a collection of infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan beginning in 2013. Originally valued at $47 billi ...

, and offers high speed road connections between the

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

- Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and the southern parts of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

province around

Dera Ismail Khan Dera Ismail Khan (; bal, , Urdu and skr, , ps, ډېره اسماعيل خان), abbreviated as D.I. Khan, is a city and capital of Dera Ismail Khan District, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is the 37th largest city of Pakistan ...

. The motorway was originally planned to open at the end of 2018, but due to delays, was inaugurated on 5 January 2022.

Route

The

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are ...

ceremony took place in May 2016. The four-lane

controlled access A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

motorway extends from the Hakla Interchange on the M-1 Motorway, near Fateh Jang in

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...

, to

. From Hakla, the motorway extends in a southwestern direction, passing through the towns of

Pindi Gheb Pindigheb (or Pindi Gheb) ( pa, ), is a town in Punjab province Pakistan and seat of Pindi Gheb Tehsil (an administrative subdivision) of Attock District.

, Jand, Tarap, and

Mianwali Mianwali (Punjabi/ ur, ) is the capital city of Mianwali District in Punjab, Pakistan. The 81st largest city of Pakistan, it is known for its diverse population of, Punjabi and Pashtun ethnicities. History Mianwali District was an agricult ...

. The route transverses the

Sindh Sagar Doab Indus Sagar Doab (Punjabi, ur, ) is the tract of land in Punjab, Pakistan, lying between the Indus River and the Jhelum River. It is one of the five major doabs of the Punjab and forms the north western portion of the Punjab plain. Districts ...

region, and crosses the Indus River near

before entering into

. The motorway continues onwards before terminating near the town of Yarik, just north of

. At the southern terminus of the new Islamabad-Dera Ismail Khan motorway, the

N-50 National Highway The National Highway 50 () or the N-50 is one of Pakistan National Highway running from city of D.I.Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the town of Kuchlak near Quetta via Zhob in Baluchistan, Pakistan. Its total length is 531 km divided into 143 ...

will also be upgraded between

Zhob Zhob (; ) or Zhobak (), formerly known as Appozai or Fort Sandeman, is a city and district capital of Zhob District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Zhob is located on the banks of Zhob River 337 km from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. T ...

and between

Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...

Specifications

The motorway has 11 interchanges, 36 bridges, 33 flyovers and 119 underpasses. It also has a 100 meter-wide

right of way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

in order to widen the four lane road to six lanes in future as traffic volume increases.

Road safety

Various commuters have identified an exact spot on M-14 where multiple accidents had taken place till January 2022. As a result, the NHA initiated a technical investigation to discover any technical fault on the road surface. So, far the investigation has turned up only over-speeding in rain as the cause of accidents in that particular section of the road.

Construction

Pakistan's Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved construction of this section of roadway in April 2016, while construction commenced in May 2016. Construction was completed by December 2021. Construction proceeded in five packages: * Package 1: Yarik-Rehmanikhel section (contract awarded to M/s NLC). * Package 2: Rehmanikhel-Kot Belian section (contract awarded to M/s SKB-KNK JV) * Package 3: Beruli-Tarap section (contract awarded to M/s FWO) * Package 4: Tarap-Pindi Gheb section (contract awarded to M/s Limak-ZKB JV) * Package 5: Pindi Gheb-Hakla Interchange section (ccontract awarded to M/s Limak-ZKB JV)

Interchanges

References

External links

* nha.gov.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Press-Release-30.06.2016.pdf {{DEFAULTSORT:Islamabad-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway M14 M China–Pakistan Economic Corridor