M-9 motorway (Pakistan)


The M-9 motorway or the Karachi–Hyderabad motorway is a north–south motorway in the Sindh province of Pakistan, connecting Karachi to Hyderabad. The six-lane road is 136 kilometres long, and caters to the commercial traffic originating from the Karachi Port and Port Qasim. Daily traffic count is around 30,000 vehicles.
The motorway is an upgrade of the old Super Highway. The Frontier Works Organization executed the project on a build–operate–transfer basis for 25 years.

History

Motorways were first proposed in Pakistan by the government of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Pakistan's first motorway, the 367 km six-lane M-2, was inaugurated in November 1997, making it the first motorway in South Asia.
On 11 March 2015, an inauguration ceremony was held for the M-9 Motorway with a planned completion date of August 2017. The six-lane, four-interchange road linking Karachi to Hyderabad was estimated to cost Rs. 36 billion.
The interchanges at Dadabhai, Industrial Valley, Nooriabad, and Thana Bola Khan, were to enable connections to Tharparkar, Jimphir, Keenjhar, and other areas as well.
On 3 February 2017, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated a completed section of the motorway from Loni Kot to Lucky toll plaza. At that time, a little over half the route had been completed, with the rest expected to be completed by March 2018.
On 24 December 2020, a new toll plaza was inaugurated on the M-9. With 24 lanes, it is the largest toll plaza in Pakistan. In February 2022, the federal government decided to further upgrade the motorway from six to eight lanes to cater to the high traffic volume.

Route

M-9 begins north of Karachi near the junction of the Karachi Northern Bypass. The Karachi Northern Bypass and this road are connected via a trumpet interchange. After that, it leaves the city. Through a link road, it forms a junction with the N5 on a northeast track. The highway exits Karachi and enters the Thar Desert. Located outside the city of Hyderabad, the motorway ends at a cloverleaf interchange in Kotri. Afterwards, it merges with the N-5.

Features

As with other motorways in Pakistan, speed limits of 80 km/h for heavy transport vehicles and 120 km/h for light transport vehicles are in place on M-9. For safety and to prevent unauthorised access, it features a central median and is fenced on the outside. Only fast-moving vehicles are allow to enter, therefore, vehicles that are slow-moving are not allowed, including pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, and animal-driven carriages. However, heavy motorbikes are used for patrolling purposes by the Pakistani National Highways & Motorways Police.

Issues with M-9 Motorway

  • M-9 Motorway is an upgrade of the old Super Highway by FWO, responsible for build, operate, and transfer to NHA after 25 years.
  • Reconstruction quality is below national and international motorway standards.
Key Issues:
  • Poor pavement quality; road surface is uneven at many locations.
  • Lacks proper service areas and amenities, unlike M-2, M-3, and M-5.
  • No service roads or fencing; local traffic merges directly from gas stations, hotels, etc.
  • Incomplete fencing allows pedestrian crossings and jaywalking.
  • Lane markings done with basic paint; no cat eyes or reflective markers installed.

    New motorway between Karachi and Hyderabad is under consideration, NHA tells SHC

Karachi - Hyderabad Super Highway was upgraded into M-9 motorway, the court has ordered the NHA to reconvert the M-9 into Superhighway. The NHA has also provided the details of the plans to make M-9 motorway on separate land alignment.As the NHA began responding through their legal representatives, they were questioned by the bench, consisting of Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Amjad Ali Sahito, concerning the NHA's decision to transform the already operational Superhighway into a motorway, as well as the reasoning behind not building a new motorway linking Karachi and Hyderabad. The bench was looking into roughly 70 petitions that were lodged during 2017 to 2021, predominantly concerning the M-9 motorway land conflicts. During the previous hearing, the SHC instructed the NHA to submit the boundary details for properties along the Karachi-Hyderabad motorway’s boundaries. Bench questions conversion of now defunct Superhighway into M-9 motorway. The NHA representative delivered the report to the court at the start of the meeting on Wednesday. The bench pointed out that there were already some filling stations and restaurants on the now defunct Superhighway. The argument was made over the procurement agreement between Sindh’s provincial government and NHA rex garding to land purchasing. According to one of the petitioners, there appears to be a conflict between the two levels of government sharing the same territory. The counsel asserted that no citizen's access to any thoroughfare can be impeded or restricted.