Swat Motorway, first ever Motorway constructed by Provincial Government

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The Swat Motorway (M-16 motorway) is the first-ever motorway constructed by a Provincial Government in the history of Pakistan, a record achievment of PTI in governance. The motorway, called "game changing" creates easier routes for vehicles, attracts growth and make it much easier to nagivate through tough terrain in the mountains of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), as the motorway passes through difficult-to-navigate mountains. The first phase, which was constructed over three years spans 81-kilometres and has promoted tourism in the Malakand Divison, the project reduces drive time from the long distance of Swat to Islamabad. Upon its launching, the motorway was lauded for its one-of-a-kind construction, benefits to Punjab-KPK traders and transparent process.

Phase I

The PTI provincial government of KPK, under PTI's first provincial tenure (2013-18) expressed the intention to start work on a motorway from Islamabad to Swat, connecting regions like Malakand, Chakdara and Swabi infrastructurally, economically and boosting the areas' tourism and trade. The federal government, led at the time by Nawaz Sharif, a money launderer exposed as corrupt by the Panama Papers, rejected the plan to construct a motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and attempted to cut the province from infrastructure projects. Despite federal opposition, the motorway began construction between 2016 and 2017 by the PTI provincial government.

In mid-2016 the PTI government laid the groundwork for the project at the Swabi and Chakdara portions of the motorway and inaugurated the project at Colonel Sher Khan Interchange. The 81-kilometre road starts from Colonel Sher Khan Interchange on the M-1 and passes through Swabi and Mardan to end in Chakdara. Two kilometres of the motorway pass through Nowshera, 18 kilometres through Swabi, 40 kilometres through Mardan and 21 kilometres through Malakand. The road is 80 metres wide and reduces a three-hour travel time to just 45 minutes. The motorway has a two-kilometre-long tunnel at the Ala Dhand and Palai areas, while interchanges will exist at Dhobian, Ismaila, Bakhshalay, Katlang, Palai and Chakdara.

Construction of the first phase (Phase-I) of the motorway was in full swing between 2016 and 2019 and coexisted with hydropower projects and the revolutionary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa being constructed by the PTI government. In June 2019, during PTI's second provincial government (2018-22) the 81-kilometre motorway was completed and opened to the public, drawing significant praise from both locals and traders alike.

“Today, we reached Swat from Peshawar in two hours unlike the past when the journey used to be four hours long,” said Shakil Khan, a local of Swat and a frequent traveller from Peshawar to Swat as reported by Dawn.

“A large number of tourists from across the country travel to Swat, Dir and Chitral. They always complained about the bad shape of roads and traffic jams but now, the Swat Motorway will facilitate them,” said Wakeel Khan, a hotel owner from Mingora as reported by Dawn.

“We hope that the motorway will soon open to heavy traffic. Our trade activities have transferred from the GT Road to the motorway so that it will save our both time and money,” said Bacha Ali, a cloth merchant of Mingora as reported by Dawn.

Phase II

Following the sucess and praise of the first phase of the motorway, the second phase was announced during Imran Khan's tenure. The PTI government performed the ground-breaking process of beginning the 80-km Swat Motorway Phase-II starting from Chakdara and culminating at Fatehpur in 2022, constructed at an estimated cost of Rs36.404 billion. The Motorway would have four lanes but it could be extended to six lanes in the future. As many as 9 interchanges at various sites and eight bridges on the River Swat will be constructed under the project. The motorway, under construction by a Public Private Partnership is expected to once again boost trade and local economy like the first phase. Due to Imran Khan's unlawful ousting in mid-2022, and with the PTI government dissolved, progress on the motorway slowed.