Fifty kilometres portion of the Swat Motorway from Karnal Sher Khan Interchange till Katlang is being opened for traffic today (Monday) while the remaining part of 31 kilometres from Katlang to Chakdara, will be inaugurated by the end of the current calendar year. Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak will inaugurate the motorway.
More than 18,000 vehicles will be able to ply this route on daily basis generating direct and indirect revenue. Once completed, the project will prove as fortune changer for the province, generating not only immediate benefits but will also provide tremendous prospects for development of transport, communication and tourism in the province.
The Motorway is first of its to be constructed by any provincial government in the country under the Public-Private Partnership Act 2014 and will be completed at an estimated cost of Rs 38 billion. The 81km long Motorway will directly link Karnal Sher Khan Interchange on Peshawar-Islamabad Motorway with Chakdara through mountains at Palai and Ala Dhand.
Two-kilometre of the Motorway falls in the vicinity of District Nowshera, 18km in Swabi, 40km in Mardan and 21km in Malakand. The total width of the motorway will be 80 meters. According to officials of the Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority (PkHA), the length of the tunnels has been estimated at about 2km. With the completion of the Swat Motorway, the journey from Karnal Sher Khan Interchange to Chakdara will take only 45 minutes as opposed to more than 2 hours previously.
The motorway will be constructed on the pattern of motorway with as many as four lanes which will be extended to six lanes afterwards. Interchanges on the motorway will be constructed at Dhobian, Ismaila, Bakshalay, Katlang, Palai and Chakdara. It will provide access to more than 40 villages which were previously inaccessible generating numerous business opportunities for local dwellers. Some of the major areas to benefit directly from the expressway include Nandraka, Mughal Kai, Daulat, Dhobian, Ismaila, Ghariyala, ShahbazGhari, Bakshalay, ShakarTangai, Shamozai, Palai, Aladhand, ZulamKot,Chakdara and onward areas such as Chitral, Dir, Kohistan and Shangla.