Six routes shut from 11pm Wednesday: M-1, M-14, E-35, GT Road, Kohat, Hassanabdal

Six routes into and around the federal capital close to all traffic from 11pm on Wednesday, 23 September, until further notice. The National Highways and Motorway Police announced the motorway and GT Road shutdowns, and Islamabad Traffic Police has now confirmed the closure points on each one.

If you are driving between Islamabad and Peshawar, or anywhere through Attock, Mianwali, Kohat or Hassanabdal, plan around it before you leave.

The six routes and where they are cut

• M-1 Peshawar Motorway: closed from Haroon Bridge
• M-14 CPEC route: closed from Kani Bridge near the Tarap Interchange, Mianwali
• E-35 Hazara Motorway: closed from the Hazara Interlink near the Burhan Interchange
• N-5 GT Road: closed from Attock Khurd
• Rawalpindi to Kohat Road: closed from Khushal Garh
• Abbottabad to Hassanabdal Road: closed from the Jhari Kas checkpost

The E-35 and Hassanabdal closures matter most to anyone heading for Abbottabad, Mansehra or the Kaghan valley, because they remove both of the usual ways north at once.

M-1 Islamabad to Peshawar

The M-1 closes to all traffic in both directions from the Islamabad Toll Plaza to the Chach Interchange.

These interchanges close with it:

• Islamabad Toll Plaza
• Fateh Jang / Tarnol
• Sangjani / AWT
• Brahma Bahter
• Burhan
• Hazara Motorway Interchange
• Ghazi
• Chach

M-14 Hakla to Kundal

The M-14 closes to all traffic in both directions between Hakla and Kundal, with the Pindi Gheb, Khapra, Tarap, Daud Khel, Kot Balian, Isa Khel and Kundal interchanges shut.

Why now

The closures come before Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's planned nationwide protest and march on Islamabad on 27 September, seeking the release of its founder Imran Khan.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said at a Lahore press conference that the government would enforce the law and would not allow the capital to be shut down, telling the PTI leadership not to "push itself into a dead end". He said the government would implement the Islamabad High Court's orders if a sit-in goes ahead.

The opposition side of the march has thinned. Jamaat-e-Islami put off its own long march after a call from the Prime Minister, and the Pakistan Peoples Party has now rejected the 27 September march outright. So this week's restrictions are aimed at a PTI date that other parties are not joining.

What to do if you have to travel

• Move your Islamabad to Peshawar run to Wednesday daytime, before the 11pm cut-off, or push it to Friday.
• The advisory is open-ended: Islamabad Traffic Police says "until further notice" and gave no alternative routes beyond advising drivers to avoid the affected roads. Reopening is announced separately, so check the Motorway Police helpline 130 before setting out rather than relying on a notice from the day before.
• A detour through Fateh Jang and the old Attock routes adds distance and fuel. Work out what the longer run costs with our fuel cost calculator at the current pump price of Rs 392.05 a litre, tracked on our petrol price page.
• With the Rawalpindi to Kohat road cut at Khushal Garh, traffic for Kohat and Hangu has to go the long way round. Budget the extra diesel at Rs 418.96 a litre.
• Islamabad schools and offices in the affected corridor have been disrupted through this protest season, so check before sending children in.