Highlands Highway

Highlands Highway
Route information
Length:	700 km (400 mi)
Existed:	1950s – present
Major junctions
East end:	Lae
West end:	Tari, Porgera
Location
Major cities:	Kainantu, Goroka, Mount Hagen, Mendi, Wabag
Highway system
Roadways in Papua New Guinea

The Highlands Highway, sometimes known as the Okuk Highway, is the main land highway in Papua New Guinea. It connects several major cities and is vital for the movement of people and goods between the populous Highlands region and the coast.

For most of its length the Highlands Highway is no more than a single carriageway two-lane road which is often hindered by potholes and land slips. It is also notorious, particularly in the Highlands region, for being the place of numerous armed hold-ups and robberies committed by local bandits called rascals (Tok Pisin: raskol).

The highway begins in Lae and travels through the Markham Valley and the province of Morobe. A branch continues through the Ramu Valley in Madang Province and ends at the coast at the provincial capital of Madang. From the Markham Valley the Highlands Highway runs up and over the approximately 1500 metre high Kassam Pass and into the Eastern Highlands Province. It passes over the wall of Yonki Dam and then travels through the towns of Kainantu and Henganofi to the provincial capital, Goroka. From here it travels up and then over the 2,478 m (8,130 ft) high Daulo Pass and crosses into Simbu Province and through to its capital of Kundiawa.

After Kundiawa the highway reaches the Wahgi valley, which marks the start of the Western Highlands Province. It continues through to the provincial capital of Mount Hagen and then at a village called Togoba, it splits. A southern branch continues on to the Southern Highlands province and its capital of Mendi before going on to Tari. The other branch goes to Enga province and its capital of Wabag before ending at the mining town of Porgera.

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Wikipedia