NHAI issues new guidelines for access-controlled high-speed highways

The guidelines aim to standardise technical and safety provisions for high-speed corridors as India plans 50,000 km of access-controlled highways under Viksit Bharat 2047

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) announced it has released new guidelines for the planning and designing of high-speed access-controlled national highways, other than expressways.

 

"The guidelines seek to bring uniformity in standards for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of high-speed National Highway corridors and bring greater consistency in technical standards, strengthen road safety, improve operational efficiency across the National Highway network," it said, adding the guidelines will apply to all upcoming 4-lane and 6-lane Greenfield and Brownfield high-speed access-controlled National Highways.

 

They are aligned with the government's long-term strategic roadmap, which envisages the development of 50,000 km of access-controlled High-Speed Corridors under Viksit Bharat 2047, boosting connectivity and reducing logistics costs.

  

At present, there are no separate standards and specifications governing the planning and designing of access-controlled High-Speed National Highways, other than expressways. "Variations have been observed in the standards adopted for preparation of DPR for such corridors. The new guidelines address this requirement by providing a uniform set of technical and safety provisions," NHAI said.

 

A key focus of the guidelines is to incorporate additional safety measures appropriate for high-speed traffic conditions on corridors. Special provisions have been prescribed for advance notification of exits and entries, enabling National Highway users to anticipate and safely navigate upcoming access and egress points.

 

The lane configuration of the High-Speed National Highways will be standardised based on detailed traffic assessment. Corridors with traffic flow of up to 15,000 vehicles with four-lane highways and four-lane structures will have a width of 60 metres.

 

Similarly, corridors having traffic flow between 15,000 and 25,000 vehicles with four-lane highways and six-lane structures will have a width of 70 metres. Also, highways with traffic flow between 25,000 and 40,000 vehicles will have a width of 70 metres for six-lane highways and six-lane structures configuration.

 

Under the guidelines, interchanges with ramps will be provided at crossings with expressways, national highways, state highways and important arterial roads generating substantial traffic, as well as roads providing connectivity to major traffic-generating destinations such as ports, airports, Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), industrial areas and major tourist destinations.