The M-8 ( ur, ) is an east–west

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 ...

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, connecting

Sukkur Sukkur (; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh along the western bank of the Indus River, directly across from the historic city of Rohri. Sukkur is the third largest city in Sindh after Karachi and Hyderabad, and 14th largest city ...

Larkana Larkana ( ur, , translit=lāṛkāna; sd, لاڙڪاڻو, translit=lāṛkāṇo) is a city located in the Sindh province of Pakistan. It is the 15th largest city of Pakistan by population. It is home to the Indus Valley civilization site Mo ...

Gwadar Gwadar (Balochi/ ur, ) is a port city with located on the southwestern coast of Balochistan, Pakistan. The city is located on the shores of the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. Gwadar is the 100th largest city of Pakistan, according to the 2 ...

. The motorway partly currently under-construction, while the 193 kilometer stretch between Gwadar and Hoshab was inaugurated in February 2016. A timeline for the completion of the motorway is not available due to the difficult terrain in which the motorway is being constructed.

Route

The Ratodero Gwadar Motorway (M-8) will start from Ratodero in Sindh Province and enter Balochistan Province passing near the towns of

Khuzdar Khuzdar ( Brahui/ bal, ; ur, , ), historically known as Qusdar ( ar, قصدار, quṣdār), is the capital city of Khuzdar District in the central part of Balochistan Province, Pakistan. Khuzdar is the 2nd-largest city of Balochistan provin ...

, Awaran, Hoshab,

Turbat Turbat is the second-largest city in Balochistan after Quetta and 38th largest city of Pakistan. It is the largest city in the southern part of the province. Education University: University of TurbatBalochistan University of Engineering ...

before joining the

Makran Coastal Highway The N-10 or National Highway 10 (Urdu: ) is a 653 km national highway in Pakistan which extends along Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast from Karachi in Sindh province to Gwadar in Balochistan province. It passes the towns of Ormara and Pasni. ...

just east of the port city of

. The M8 will cross the

Dasht River The Dasht River ( ur, ) is located in the Makran region and Gwadar District, in the southwestern section of Balochistan Province, Pakistan which drains near Jiwani. Tributaries The Kech River which (maxime) flows through Kech valley is the ea ...

and pass near the

Mirani Dam Miraani Dam ( ur, ). Dasht River south of the Central Makran Range in Kech District in Balochistan province of Pakistan. Its reservoir is fed by the Kech River and the Nihing River. Mirani Dam was completed in July 2006 and began impoundi ...

in Balochistan Province. The M8 will have 4-lanes and a total length of 892 km. Initially, 2-lanes will be constructed after the completion of which another 2-lanes will be added, thus making a total of 4-lanes.

Construction

The M8 is being constructed by Pakistan's

National Highway Authority The National Highway Authority (NHA; ur, ) is a statutory body under the Ministry of Communications (MoCom) of Pakistan. History In 1978, the Government of Pakistan federalised five important inter-provincial roads and named them ''National ...

. Construction of the M8 commenced on 15 October 2004. According to a newspaper report of July 23, 2015 the construction arm of Pakistan army, Frontier Works Organization (FWO) has completed 502 of 870 kilometer of this road. The work started simultaneously from the junction with the

(MCH) and from Ratodero in Sind. As of January 2015 the road is completed except for some bridges from MCH to a point near Hoshab where it joins N85 (Hoshab-Panjgur-Besima Highway) and Hoshab-Bela Road. The M8 Motorway will be following the alignment of N85. From the Ratodero end M8 to Khuzdar is almost complete except for a difficult section going over the peaks of northern Kirthar range about seventy km east of Khuzdar.

CPEC

M8 motorway is part of CPEC central Route. Motorway half part from Gwadar to Hoshab is operational with 2 lane. Other 2 lane will be added after M8 will be fully operational. Motorway is operated by NHA & FWO. On 16 July 2020, ECNEC awarded Rs26bn for 146 km Hoshab-Awaran-Khuzdar Section.

Junctions

Images

References

External links

National Highway Authority

Pakistan National Highways & Motorway Police
M08 Proposed roads in Pakistan China–Pakistan Economic Corridor {{Pakistan-road-stub