India to build access-controlled ring roads, bypasses to curb urban congestion

Summary

The aim is to preserve highway speeds of 100-120 kmph, separate long-distance passenger and freight traffic from local movement, and prevent unregulated roadside development from eroding the benefits of public investment.

New Delhi: India plans to develop ring roads and highway bypasses around cities and towns as access-controlled corridors with distance-based tolling, aiming to keep them dedicated to through traffic and prevent them from becoming congested urban roads as settlements expand and local traffic increases, according to the road transport ministry's new urban decongestion policy.

The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has finalized a revised decongestion policy mandating that national highway projects undertaken for urban decongestion be developed as fully access-controlled corridors with a minimum four-lane configuration and closed tolling facilities. The aim is to preserve highway speeds of 100-120 kmph, separate long-distance passenger and freight traffic from local movement, and prevent unregulated roadside development from eroding the benefits of public investment, according to the policy that was notified last month. Mint has reviewed the policy.

Earlier plans on ring roads and bypasses did not have a specific provision for being developed as access-controlled networks. This resulted in unregulated ribbon development along the National Highways that soon impeded smooth flow of traffic and created congestion, negating the benefits of the investment made in the development of the ring road or the bypass.

"Wherever a ring road is constructed, we would go for closed tolling, which would mean that vehicles would have to pay for the distance travelled on such roads, which would also be access-controlled," a person aware of the government's plans said.

According to distance

Under closed tolling, motorists would pay according to the distance travelled rather than a single fixed charge for entering and using a road. However, smaller exits within cities may be exempted from tolling where traffic volumes are low and the cost of installing tolling infrastructure is not justified, the person said. Such exemptions would be considered to minimize inconvenience for local commuters while retaining the principle of access control.

Mint reported in June that the government planned a ₹2 trillion programme to develop a 10,000-km network of ring roads and bypasses around 400-500 cities and towns, initially targeting urban centres with populations of 500,000 or more before expanding the coverage to cities and towns with populations of 100,000 or more. Smaller towns in northeastern and hilly states may also be considered on a case-by-case basis. The broader initiative seeks to separate through traffic from local traffic and ease congestion on national highways passing through urban centres.

Queries emailed to MoRTH remained unanswered till press time.

Devayan Dey, partner - capital projects and infrastructure at PwC India, said the policy was well-meaning but stressed the need for city-specific transport planning before major investments. "More often than not, congestion is less of a transport planning problem and more of an urban planning problem," he said, noting that bypasses may have limited impact where congestion primarily arises from the interaction between production and consumption centres within cities.

The broader policy objective is to ensure that ring roads and bypasses remain high-capacity corridors for freight and passenger traffic while supporting planned urban expansion, logistics development and better connectivity to public transport and economic centres.

Congestion assessed

The urgency is underscored by a congestion assessment conducted by MoRTH covering 83 cities with populations exceeding 500,000. It identified 80 cities where vehicle speeds on national highways fell by more than 10% while passing through urban areas. Congestion is already being addressed through bypasses and ring roads in 32 cities, leaving 48 where interventions need to be planned, according to the policy.

The ministry's approach seeks to address a recurring problem in highway development: bypasses initially built to divert traffic around towns gradually become congested as commercial establishments, housing and other development spring up along them. Frequent intersections and uncontrolled access points then undermine their ability to carry long-distance traffic efficiently.

Anurag Gupta, partner at Deloitte India, said access control could help preserve the original purpose of bypasses by preventing them from turning into local urban roads. Its effectiveness, however, would depend on proper interchange planning, adequate service roads and strict control over unplanned development along the corridors.

Under the policy, interchanges connecting access-controlled highways to national highways, state highways, city arterial roads and major district roads approved in the city's master plan would be spaced at intervals of at least 5 km. Access to other public roads would be provided through slip roads. Service roads on the city-facing side would accommodate local traffic without impeding movement on the main carriageway.

Not silver bullet

Sanjay Kumar Sinha, founder and managing director of Chaitanya Projects Consultancy, said access control and tolling alone would not prevent congestion from returning. Poorly located access points, inadequate connecting roads or tolls that make short-distance journeys inconvenient could push commuters back onto roads through towns.

"Closed tolling can make charges proportionate to the distance travelled, but local accessibility and affordability must also be considered during project planning," Sinha said.

The policy also seeks to integrate bypasses and ring roads with city master plans, with a planning horizon of up to 50 years. States would be required to regulate development along the corridors, including notifying a 15-metre-wide prohibited development zone on either side and considering regulated development zones extending up to 2 km on either side.

The ministry has also proposed financial arrangements requiring state governments to contribute through land acquisition cost-sharing, land pooling, reimbursement of state GST and mineral royalties, or value-capture mechanisms that recover part of the increase in surrounding land values.