Peshawar: The Swat Expressway, a major project by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government, has been opened to traffic partially on 21st May 2018, according to a news source. The 50-kilometre long route from Swabi to Katlang Interchange has been opened to traffic, whereas the remaining 30 kms are expected to be operational by December.
Work on this 81-kilometre long road from Kernal Sher Khan Interchange on Motorway M-I to Chakdara started in August 2016 and was scheduled to complete by December 2017. Once the project is completed, it will facilitate easy passage for over 18,000 vehicles on a daily basis and prove to be a major game-changer for the province. This will bring in the much-needed revenue, and provide tremendous prospects for development of transport, communication and tourism in the province.
The expressway has been launched under the Private Partnership Act 2014 and is expected to be completed at an estimated cost of PKR 38 billion. The route is expected to reduce travel time from Karnal Sher Khan Interchange to Chakdara from more than two hours to a mere 45 minutes. The construction of the expressway is being carried out on the same pattern as a motorway.
