Existed: 1982 – present East end: Skardu Constructed 1982 | West end: Gilgit Length 167 km | |
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Strategic Highway 1 (S-1) or more popularly known as Gilgit-Skardu Road (Urdu, Shina, Balti: گگلت سکردو سارک) or Skardu Road is a 167 km long Strategic Highway linking Gilgit with Skardu in Gilgit-Baltistan territory.
Contents
Route
The highway begins in Gilgit at the N-35 National Highway (Karakoram Highway), near Jaglote and extends eastwards towards Skardu. Initially the road was gravel, but over the year certain sections were paved and today is fully paved and an all-weather road. The road is winding and in some places only wide enough for one vehicle to pass. On other parts of the highway it is bordered by a cliff drop of hundreds of meters (many hundreds of feet) unprotected by any guardrails. Total travel time between Gilgit and Skardu is around 8 hours. The roads can be blocked for weeks at a time depending on conditions (though two to five days is more normal). This road was constructed by Pakistan Army Engineers with the Association of Chinese Engineers in 1982. The road ends in Skardu, the capital of Skardu District and Baltistan division, at an elevation of 2,226 m (7,303 ft) above the sea level.
Improvements and upgrades
The Skardu Road Project has been facing delays since 2008. Repairing and widening of road has still not begun, despite an announcement by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in April 2015, during his visit to Gilgit. The proposed Gilgit-Skardu Expressway plans to rebuild the entire road at a cost of Rs40 billion.