NHAI Bans Median Cuts on Future High-Speed Roads
The National Highways Authority of India has issued new design guidelines for upcoming access-controlled high-speed national highway corridors, banning median openings and surface-level intersections to reduce dangerous traffic conflict points and high-speed crashes.
No Median Cuts on High-Speed National Highways
Under the new guidelines, future four-lane and six-lane greenfield and brownfield access-controlled high-speed national highways will not have median cuts or at-grade intersections.
NHAI said eliminating these features would reduce cross-traffic movements, wrong-side driving and other risks that become particularly dangerous on roads where cars can travel at speeds of up to 100 kmph.
The new standards will apply to upcoming access-controlled national highways that are not formally classified as expressways.
Flush Medians and Advance Exit Signs Planned
The guidelines also replace raised concrete central dividers with flush medians consisting of painted central areas protected by thick wire ropes or crash barriers.
Motorists will receive advance warnings before highway exits, with signs planned at distances of 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 metres. The system is intended to allow drivers to change lanes gradually instead of making sudden movements near exits.
Lane configurations will also be determined through traffic studies and future traffic projections.
India Targets 50,000 Km High-Speed Highway Network
The new standards come as India targets development of about 50,000 km of access-controlled high-speed road corridors over the coming years.
Depending on projected traffic and infrastructure such as bridges, flyovers and interchanges, new corridors will generally have a right of way of either 60 metres or 70 metres.
NHAI said the guidelines are intended to create uniform technical standards across high-speed highway projects while improving safety and ensuring smoother traffic movement.
