Hazara Motorway – Travel Guide 2021
Hazara Motorway is an excellent alternative for those traveling to northern areas of Pakistan, for instance, Hunza Valley. A much better alternative is still the Naran-Babusar road which is only open for three to four months (June to September) due to extreme weather conditions. Hence this motorway will be the best option in the remaining eight months.
The previously busy Karakoram Highway (KKH) was a road with high traffic running through different towns and valleys mentioned below. The Hazara motorway easily saves above three hours in comparison to the Karakoram Highway up to Thakot.
Hazara Motorway (also known as M-15 Motorway) is a 180 kilometres motorway linking the Burhan Interchange near Hasan Abdal in Punjab to Thakot in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It by-passes five major town/cities including Hassanabdal, Haripur, Havelian, Abbottabad, and Mansehra. However interchanges are available to enter/exit towns up to Mansehra. After Mansehra, the motorway passes through the towns of Shinkiari, and Battagram.
Islamabad to Mansehra Section of Hazara Motorway
The motorway has six tunnels two at Abbottabad and one each at Battal, Karmong, Mansehra and Thakot. Up to Mansehra, its 39 km portion is six-lane controlled access portion while the remaining 79 km is four lane road. The road after Mansehra is a single road with two lanes. This two way road ideally should not have been classified as a “motorway”. The motorways are usually dual carriage, each with at least two lanes (total 4 lanes).
Islamabad to Mansehra Section of Hazara Motorway
How to enter Hazara Motorway?
Burhan Interchange
The Hazara motorway begins at Burhan interchange which is situated on the Islamabad-Peshawar Motorway (M1). The distance of major cities from Burhan interchange is given in the table below.
| Distance From | Distance To | Distance |
| Islamabad | Burhan Interchange | 58 kilometers |
| Peshawar | Burhan Interchange | 128 kilometers |
| Lahore | Burhan Interchange | 392 kilometers |
A Bridge on Islamabad to Mansehra Section of Hazara Motorway
Distance from Islamabad to Tourist Spots via Hazara Motorway
| Tourist Destinations | Distance from Islamabad | Estimated Time | Interchange on Hazara Motorway |
| Abbottabad | 134 kms | 1hr 30mins | Abbottabad Interchange |
| Naran Kaghan | 283 kms | 6hrs 30mins | Mansehra Interchange |
| Babusar Pass | 348 kms | 8 hrs | Mansehra Interchange |
| Raikot (for fairy meadows) | 439 kms | 11hrs 30 mins | Mansehra Interchange |
| Gilgit | 517 kms | 12hrs 30 mins | Mansehra Interchange |
| Hunza | 602 kms | 14hrs 30mins | Mansehra Interchange |
| Skardu | 639 kms | 18hrs | Mansehra Interchange |
Karmong Tunnel No.1 on the Motorway
Tunnels on the Motorway
There are a total of six tunnels starting from Abbottabad to Battal. Tunnels have light, fire extinguishers, telephone booths, emergency lanes, etc. Given below are the lengths of all the tunnels on Hazara Motorway.
| Hazara Motorway Tunnels | Length |
| Abbottabad Tunnel 1 | 1,720 meters |
| Abbottabad Tunnel 2 | 2, 390 meters |
| Mansehra Tunnel | 2,528 meters |
| Karmong Tunnel | 442 meters |
| Battal Tunnel | 2,906 meters |
| Thakot Tunntel | 615m |
One of the Six Tunnels on Hazara Motorway
Pictures/Photos of the Motorway
Map of Hazara Motorway
The map below highlights districts, tehsils, national highways, motorways, interchange, tunnels, etc.
Hazara Motorway Map
Latest Updates/News 2021
The motorway is financed by the Asian Development Bank, along with a ₨10.021 billion (US$71 million) grant from the United Kingdom.
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