Indian Roads Thread

Picklu · Post by **Picklu** » 14 Aug 2014 01:50

Saikji, I think you and Victorji both are right. We need barb wire to stop the genuine animals and solar powered animal alert light in all our highways to warn us of humans driving in the opposite direction.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 14 Aug 2014 03:17

I think better solution is enable them to cross either under or over bridge. People are not that educated yet in desh, or the culture is such that it seeks convenience model of access and control to things around them. they will just cut thru anything for their convenience with no logical reasons attached.

saip · Post by **saip** » 14 Aug 2014 03:51

Yday my nephew drove me to the airport in Hyd. We took the entry ramp to P Narasima Rao express way (only time you see his name) and what do we see. A car using the entry ramp as an exit ramp. My nephew blocked that car and used the choicest language to abuse him. All the driver could do was mumble some 'sorry, sorry' but made no attempt to reverse. Anyway we had to go as it was getting late for me to catch my flight. That guy was obviously coming from the airport as his passengers were air hostesses. So he must have driven on the wrong side of the road for miles! Why in the hell the passengers wont do a thing is a mystery.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 14 Aug 2014 20:22

the air hostesses are perhaps boozed or might be jet airways employees!

muraliravi · Post by **muraliravi** » 19 Aug 2014 20:47

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 246_1.html

The highways sector in India is currently passing through a bad phase with many projects having been dropped for different reasons, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Tuesday.

"Not a single kilometre of highway network could be added in the month of July," Gadkari said addressing a meeting of the Indian Roads Congress.

Pointing out that highway developers dropped projects worth about Rs.50,000 crore in the absence of land acquisition and environmental clearances, the minister called upon officials and other stake holders to speed up the process to achieve the target of building 30 km of highways per day in the next two years.

"Right now, the average construction is to the tune of three km per day. After two years, I aim to take this target to 30 km per day," Gadkari had said soon after taking charge.

He also urged the Indian Roads Congress to concentrate on Research and Development and designing as per global standards.

Speaking to media persons on the sidelines of the meeting, Gadkari said the government will amend the Motor Vehicles Act in the winter session of parliament, underlining the need to overhaul the existing "obsolete" system to also check regional transport offices (RTOs) corruption.

The new law is being designed to provide permits online besides fines for traffic violations on the basis of recordings made on camera, the minister said.

"The Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill, being prepared in sync with practises in six advanced nations - USA, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany and the UK - will be introduced in the next session of parliament. This will overhaul the sector bringing to an end the corrupt practises in RTOs," Gadkari said.

Hmm, not a single km in july with the target being close to 8500 kms a year. C'mon mr. gadkari ur boss is not someone who will take excuses. get ur job done.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 20 Aug 2014 07:00

it takes time to get things together and restart dropped/stalled projects even if Govt unblocks all clearances. so dont expect momentum before december.
on the blr ORR one half of a flyover is still languishing in kalyanagar for unknown reason when rest all flyovers are done.

the UPA2 poison in the infra blood will take some time to drain out.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 Aug 2014 09:05

A scene in Madurai - Courtesy: The Hindu

negi · Post by **negi** » 22 Aug 2014 16:20

This guy must be having a pigeon hole view of the road ahead of him. Best part is RTO chaps must have let him roll by at leisurely speed while stopping some chap on a bike or car for some frivolous reason .

Zynda · Post by **Zynda** » 22 Aug 2014 17:59

Horror 2020: B'lore traffic in core areas at 5kmph

Bangalore: Vehicular movement in the central business district (CBD) is set to be a crawl in 2020: 5 km per hour to be precise, if authorities fail to address growing traffic congestion in the city. The doomsday scenario is painted by a study conducted by the Consortium of Traffic Engineers and Safety Trainers (CTEST). The study sought to find the average traffic speed on select roads in CBD area. It found that vehicular speed had reduced to one fourth of what it was almost a decade ago: from 35 kmph in 2005 it is down to 9kmph now. Traffic movement is now reduced to a snail's pace only on gridlocked stretches or during peak hours or when streets become waterlogged. A top speed of 9kmph, the speed of a bicycle, means vehicles are burning more fuel and people are shelling out more at gas stations. (err...don't we say petrol bunk in BLR at least among the non-Americanised janta? )

The study shows the average traffic speed on these two roads where two prominent schools are located has reduced to 4.2 kmph between 3pm and 6pm due to unregulated two-side parking of school vans and private vehicles which come to pick up and drop children, besides the ongoing work under 'Tendersure' project. Seshadri Road leading to KR Circle, recorded the next lowest speed of less than 7kmph. The average traffic speed on MG Road is down to 7.8 kmph from 20 kmph in 2010 during peak hours after Metro stations came up. Brigade Road is comparatively better at 10.2 kmph. The study says a major reason for traffic congestion on MG Road and Brigade Road is unregulated roadside parking while frequent movement of BMTC buses hampers traffic on Seshadri Road. "Bus bays on Seshadri Road are frequented by BMTC buses every 3 seconds and there is chaos due to their haphazard parking

IT'S A DRAG
Avg traffic speed of vehicles during peak hours:
* 5 km radius around Vidhan Soudha: 9 kmph Seshadri Road up to K R Circle --- 7 kmph M G Road - 7.8 km Brigade Road --- 10.2 kmph Infantry Road --- 11.9 kmph Museum Road/St Mark's Road: 4.2 km (3 pm to 6 pm) Ambedkar Veedhi: 12.9 kmph

PROBLEM OF PLENTY Bangalore has 54 lakh vehicles of which 18.5% are cars 72% are two-wheelers Every 2nd person has a motorized vehicle in Bangalore About 2,000 vehicles are added to city everyday About 10 lakh vehicles criss-cross CBD areas daily

I think planners should make provisions for road expansion of major upcoming arterial roads i.e. create a no building zone at least 50 meters on either side of the road. All Ring roads are populated with buildings on either side which makes it impossible to expand. Solution is to build fly-overs like a band-aid patch. Service lanes are a mess...

Also please update the residential code of alloting more than 30ft to non-main roads in upcoming residential areas. Its not 1970 where majority of the population are expected to use bicycles. With 30ft of road space with no foot path provision, pedestrians along with parked & moving vehicles share the space, creating one major cluster f&@k.

anupmisra · Post by **anupmisra** » 23 Aug 2014 01:33

SSridhar wrote:
A scene in Madurai - Courtesy: The Hindu

It looks like a bigger version of that mutt cutt car in Dumb and Dumber.

member_22733 · Post by **member_22733** » 23 Aug 2014 03:03

I can imagine the owner/manager of the "lorry" going (I dont know Tamil so using Angrezi):

"How can I get the maximum bang for the buck with this contract?
Stuff the laarry with as much hay as I can.
Now which bakra can I find to drive this thing? Who would it be, who?
Ohh there goes our junior most driver Chinna.
Son, come here.... I have an exciting assignment for you ....
you see that laaarry?"

SaraLax · Post by **SaraLax** » 23 Aug 2014 09:01

SSridhar wrote:
A scene in Madurai - Courtesy: The Hindu

It does not appear to be a Tamil Nadu registered vehicle ...the number does not start with a T (old ones used to have it) or the more current TN letters like how it is visible in the nearby white Force Motors Van.

With what appears to be something starting of with KL letters in the registration number of the lorry - This is a vehicle from neighbouring Kerala. Is it not ?.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 23 Aug 2014 09:22

LokeshC wrote:I can imagine the owner/manager of the "lorry" going (I dont know Tamil so using Angrezi):

"How can I get the maximum bang for the buck with this contract?
Stuff the laarry with as much hay as I can.
Now which bakra can I find to drive this thing? Who would it be, who?
Ohh there goes our junior most driver Chinna.
Son, come here.... I have an exciting assignment for you ....
you see that laaarry?"

its common sight near villages, even sugar canes are transported like this

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 23 Aug 2014 09:36

BLR people better learn how to carpool and vanpool. too many cars with single passengers. unfortunately we have not gotten past the car as a status symbol to car as a just another tool. while i was in blr, pretty much every car coming to the office would be single occupancy or 2 when couples work in same building.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 23 Aug 2014 15:57

SaraLax wrote:With what appears to be something starting of with KL letters in the registration number of the lorry - This is a vehicle from neighbouring Kerala. Is it not ?.

The lorry has the number KL4-A3837. The vehicle is registered at Alapuzha RTO in South Kerala. The place does have some semblance of rice farming going on.

Gus wrote:BLR people better learn how to carpool and vanpool.

It is not as easy as we think. This is because the work hours are pretty much non-existant (especially for IT folks). This would work out well in a case where every one can just shut down their computers and say "The day is done". In a car-pool it requires a high amount of cooperation from all the parties who is in the pool. One person cannot demand that he would leave at an exact point of time every day, and the others can also not demand that the vehicle should leave only after every one (in the pool has) boarded. So every one who has the means prefer an individual way of commute, so that he can leave as and when he feels like. To be honest none of the IT-Vity companies give any special benefits to the people who do car-pooling. They have all their individual goals and targets to be met. So when every thing is measured on an individual basis, any group activity (including car pooling etc.) are bound to fail.

Gus · Post by **Gus** » 28 Aug 2014 02:29

https://fbcdn-video-a.akamaihd.net/hvid ... 363d6f0a6a

can anybody id these roads?

some are pretty bad design and in the latter part accidents are caused by people not slowing down at flashing light.

worse is, in many cases, people just don't stop and drive away.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 29 Aug 2014 07:04

one heckuva link is that!

geeth · Post by **geeth** » 04 Sep 2014 12:00

Is the toll rates being raised across the country by 15%? If so why the talk of abolishing toll by Gadkari? Not a good move to fleece the customer.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 06 Oct 2014 19:06

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -traction/
Bridgestone Americas has opened up an experimental factory in Arizona to extract natural rubber from locally grown guayule.

Bharat can learn.. rubberizing asphalt roads are the way to move forward..

chetak · Post by **chetak** » 06 Oct 2014 19:19

SaiK wrote:http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -traction/
Bridgestone Americas has opened up an experimental factory in Arizona to extract natural rubber from locally grown guayule.

Bharat can learn.. rubberizing asphalt roads are the way to move forward..

it was done many years ago in kerala. Really smooth roads in certain stretches where they had done this work

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 24 Oct 2014 04:58

Kerala government gives in on their attempt to push for 30m right of way for NH
Kerala to speed up land acquisition for NH development

Congress-led UDF government in Kerala today decided to assure the Centre that it would acquire and handover necessary land to NHAI for developing National Highway stretches at a width of 45 metres.

A decision to this effect was taken against the background of the Centre denying aid to the state for its proposal to develop NH stretches at a width of 30 metres, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had said in July Centre will not extend any assistance under national highways programme if the Kerala government decides to develop NH stretches in the state at 30-metre width instead of 45 metres.

Considering the state request for relaxation in conditions in view of scarcity of land, the Centre had reduced the road width to 45 metres from 60 metres followed in other parts of the country. The state had again approached the Centre to reduce the width from 45 to 30 metres.

"Cabinet has decided to acquire land for developing NH 17 and NH 47 with 45 metres width," Chandy said, adding, district collectors concerned would be instructed to acquire land as soon as possible.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 25 Oct 2014 00:03

good decision. good for kerala.

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 25 Oct 2014 01:33

SaiK wrote:good decision. good for kerala.

Seems like a kick to the "Chandy" has been delivered by Gadkari.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 25 Oct 2014 02:03

And where are they going to get 45 metres other than in some rural areas...aka Palakkad. It will never get done except in stretches. There is no deep pockets with GoK to pay market rate value next to the NH-47 or NH-17.

Best would be to dust up the old Kerala Expressway plan and implement it as a greenfield project 25-50 miles east of the population centers rather than along the low lying coastal areas.

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 25 Oct 2014 03:12

Bade wrote:And where are they going to get 45 metres other than in some rural areas...aka Palakkad. It will never get done except in stretches. There is no deep pockets with GoK to pay market rate value next to the NH-47 or NH-17.

Best would be to dust up the old Kerala Expressway plan and implement it as a greenfield project 25-50 miles east of the population centers rather than along the low lying coastal areas.

Ummm, I thought that was the point of the news posted above. Gadkari is the moneybags here, but he will only assist for the 45 m plan.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 25 Oct 2014 05:05

My understanding is that land acquisition costs are always borne out by the state and not the centre. The cost of land upwards of 25 lakhs per cent except in very rural areas is one factor, willingness of people to move is another. We are not talking of small hutments, but houses which are 2000 to 3000sqft all along the highways in Kerala. SSC has some pics of a short stretch along NH17 alignment where they have built at 45 m width north of Parur town. Check out the houses which had to be demolished and some still standing next to the highway.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 25 Oct 2014 05:09

Chandy has agreed (what goes for his baap) so that there are no roadblocks to the Kochi Metro support from the central govt which probably matters to him more. They are talking of a phase2 already. So no kick in the 'Chandhi' for him, he just punted it back to the courts and LA litigation will go on forever to meet the NHAI requirements.

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 26 Oct 2014 02:01

Bade wrote:My understanding is that land acquisition costs are always borne out by the state and not the centre.

To my knowledge national highway development is financed by NHAI which is India Goremint agency, not state. The state governments may be responsible for the mechanics of acquiring the land, paying the contractors, etc.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 26 Oct 2014 02:23

Bade,

Yup the kerala expessway plan is doable. Chandy just agreed under pressure, nothing is going to happen as no pol will chop their own throat.

To be honest it maybe easier and cheaper to build a elevated concrete road. But who is going to tell the fools in charge.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 26 Oct 2014 02:23

Bade,

Yup the kerala expessway plan is doable. Chandy just agreed under pressure, nothing is going to happen as no pol will chop their own throat.

To be honest it maybe easier and cheaper to build a elevated concrete road. But who is going to tell the fools in charge.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 26 Oct 2014 03:24

But then why was NHAI complaining earlier about land acquisition costs in KL as the biggest obstacle to developing the national highways in KL.

Yes, an elevated option might work better all along the existing alignment of NH47 and NH17, while leaving the grade level for local traffic.

Suraj · Post by **Suraj** » 26 Oct 2014 03:30

Both elevated and double decker short stretches are an option for bottlenecked areas with lesser than 45m right of way.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 26 Oct 2014 03:35

There is an added benefit for having elevated sections in the coastal belt, as the sea levels rise the roads will be spared

and still connect isolated communities.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 26 Oct 2014 08:23

Clearly old NH-47 alignment still has room for expansion, unlike the NH-17 alignment where there are lots of clusters of development right next to the highway.

Sourced via SSC.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 26 Oct 2014 08:31

let us get some pics where bade saab thinks kerala don't have space? i'm trying to understand. perhaps there is an alternative

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 26 Oct 2014 08:49

from SSC

This area is a familiar place to me and is quite deceiving now to make any argument, as all the houses were razed down to build the bypass through them. There are lot more houses hiding behind the tree line and not visible.

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 27 Oct 2014 01:26

KLP Dubey wrote:
Bade wrote:My understanding is that land acquisition costs are always borne out by the state and not the centre.
To my knowledge national highway development is financed by NHAI which is India Goremint agency, not state. The state governments may be responsible for the mechanics of acquiring the land, paying the contractors, etc.

In principle yes, but reality seems far from it. The prices that NHAI offers are per strictures written in circa '66 or so. So the state will have to come up with the difference, which are multiples of what NHAI allows for, to even enable acquiring land from private owners. The state of course cannot pay market rate either I believe, but what are published circle rates is offered, which is invariably lower than the market rates and leads to litigation. This LA is a circus with no end.

KLP Dubey · Post by **KLP Dubey** » 27 Oct 2014 02:42

Bade wrote:In principle yes, but reality seems far from it. The prices that NHAI offers are per strictures written in circa '66 or so. So the state will have to come up with the difference, which are multiples of what NHAI allows for, to even enable acquiring land from private owners. The state of course cannot pay market rate either I believe, but what are published circle rates is offered, which is invariably lower than the market rates and leads to litigation. This LA is a circus with no end.

Help me understand. Where has this happened on a large scale before ? Do you mean to say the entire GQ and NSEW projects were completed with the state governments either paying "multiples of NHAI rates" or going through "litigation"?

Bade · Post by **Bade** » 27 Oct 2014 05:16

NHAI is on record saying that KL land values make it economically unfeasible to build there. There must be some truth to it. So what happened elsewhere is not directly relevant, except perhaps close to urban centers elsewhere when comparable costs in LA was incurred and the states ponied up.

If you take the specific case of old NH-47 spur from KL-TN border to Kochi, land has been acquired largely ( more than 80% from visual evidence) except close to town centers. The smaller stretches in litigation is holding up the development of large parts of this stretch. Trichur-Kochi is largely done and tolled since last year.

The real monster is upgrading the NH-17 to 4 lanes with 45 meters width and around ~ 500km long in KL which will hold up things for a while. This is not part of GQ or NSEW.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Oct 2014 07:30

one dark rainy night, we were in a taxi from kochi airport to kumarakom. there are two parallel NHs passing on the western side of the lake I think. I thought they were both town level interior roads until I checked the map later!