What is the Kabul to Kandahar Highway?
Phase one of the Kabul to Kandahar highway is 389 kilometers (242 miles) long and was originally constructed with U.S. government financing in the early 1960s. In the eastern part of Afghanistan it handles major north-south highway traffic. Kandahar in the south is connected to Herat in western Afghanistan — 566 kilometers (351 miles) away — by another major highway. Other important roads link Herat, via cities in the north of the country, to Kabul. Together these arteries constitute the Afghan Ring Road. Like the entire Ring Road, the Kabul to Kandahar highway and its bridges and other structures suffered considerable deterioration, damage and lack of investment over the years, particularly during two-and-a-half decades of civil war and hostilities. The entire length of the Kabul to Kandahar highway is 482 kilometers (300 miles). USAID reconstructed 389 km (241 miles); 43 km (27 miles) of the highway surface did not require resurfacing and the government of Japan funded the reconstr
