Swat: Opening of Swat Motorway Tunnel on Eid to cut down travel time between Islamabad and Swat from six hours to three hours.
The first motorway in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is set to launch on Eid. It will be an 81 kilometres long, four lane wide motorway. This important artery will facilitate Swat valley and adjoining areas of Malkand, Chitral and Shangla Par. The Motorway starts from Kernal Sher Khan interchange at M1 Motorway and ends at Chakdara with six interchanges on the way namely Chakdara, Palai, Katlang, Bakhshalay, Ismaila and Dobian.
It will travel through districts of Nowhsera, Swabi, Mardan and Malakand and main villages spread across the four districts including Haryan, Gumbat, Daulat, Nazar, Ismaila, Baghicha Dheri, Garyala, Shahbaz Garhi, Bakshali,Jamal Garhi, Katlang, Alo, Palai, Zulam Kot, Allah Dand and Chakdara.
Traffic load on the N-95 national highway is expected a significant relief. The expressway on the contrary is expected to provide a boost to the tourism sector in Swat and adjoining areas resulting in revenue generation for the province and its people.
The ground breaking ceremony for the Swat Motorway was held in 2016. KP Chief Minister Mr. Pervaiz Khatak performed the foundation stone laying in August. Estimated cost of the expressway stands at Rs43 billion.
Update on June 6, 2019: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has opened Swat Motorway for tourists at the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr. The motorway is opened for light traffic vehicles only at this time. Reports are coming in of a large number of tourists travelling on Swat Motorway to celebrate eid in the scenic north. Read more here.
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