Importance of Roads in india

1. Roads play a very important role in the transportation of goods and passengers for short and medium
distances.

2. It is comparatively easy and cheap to construct and maintain roads.

3. Road transport system establishes easy contact between farms, fields, factories and markets and
provides door to door service.

4. Roads can negotiate high gradients and sharp turns which railways cannot do. As such, roads can be
constructed in hilly areas also.

5. Roads act as great feaders to railways. Without good and sufficient roads, railways cannot collect
sufficient produce to make their operation possible.

6. Road transport is more flexible than the railway transport. Buses and trucks may be stopped
anywhere and at any time on the road for loading and unloading passengers and goods whereas trains
stop only at particular stations.

7. Perishable commodities like vegetables, fruits and milk are transported more easily and quickly by
roads than by railways.

Due to above-mentioned advantages, the road transport has become very popular and its share is
constantly increasing.

Modern developments
The first World war period and that immediately following it found a rapid growth in motor transport. So
need for better roads became a necessity. For that, the Government of India appointed a committee
called Road development Committee with Mr.M.R. Jayakar as the chairman. This committee came to be
known as Jayakar committee.

Jayakar Committee
In 1927 Jayakar committee for Indian road development was appointed. The major recommendations
and the resulting implementations were:Committee found that the road development of the country
has become beyond the capacity of local governments and suggested that Central government should
take the proper charge considering it as a matter of national interest.They gave more stress on long
term planning programme, for a period of 20 years (hence called twenty year plan) that is to formulate
plans and implement those plans with in the next 20 years.One of the recommendations was the
holding of periodic road conferences to discuss about road construction and development. This paved
the way for the establishment of a semi-official technical body called Indian Road Congress (IRC) in
1934The committee suggested imposition of additional taxation on motor transport which includes duty
on motor spirit, vehicle taxation, license fees for vehicles plying for hire. This led to the introduction of a
development fund called Central road fund in 1929. This fund was intended for road development.A
dedicated research organization should be constituted to carry out research and development work.
This resulted in the formation of Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) in 1950.

Nagpur road congress 1943

The second World War saw a rapid growth in road traffic and this led to the deterioration in the
condition of roads. To discuss about improving the condition of roads, the government convened a
conference of chief engineers of provinces at Nagpur in 1943. The result of the conference is famous as
the Nagpur plan.A twenty year development programme for the period (1943-1963) was finalized. It was
the first attempt to prepare a co-ordinated road development programme in a planned manner.

The roads were divided into four classes:

National highways: which would pass through states, and places having national importance for
strategic, administrative and other purposes.

State highways : which would be the other main roads of a state.

District roads : which would take traffic from the main roads to the interior of the district . According to
the importance, some are considered as major district roads and the remaining as other district roads.

Village roads : which would link the villages to the road system.

The committee planned to construct 2 lakh kms of road across the country within 20 years.

They recommended the construction of star and grid pattern of roads throughout the country.

One of the objective was that the road length should be increased so as to give a road density of 16kms
per 100 sq.km

Bombay road congress 1961

The length of roads envisaged under the Nagpur plan was achieved by the end of it, but the road system
was deficient in many respects. The changed economic, industrial and agricultural conditions in the
country warranted a review of the Nagpur plan. Accordingly a 20-year plan was drafted by the Roads
wing of Government of India, which is popularly known as the Bombay plan. The highlights of the plan
were:It was the second 20 year road plan (1961-1981)The total road length targeted to construct was
about 10 lakhs.Rural roads were given specific attention. Scientific methods of construction was
proposed for the rural roads. The necessary technical advice to the Panchayaths should be given by
State PWD's.They suggested that the length of the road should be increased so as to give a road density
of 32kms/100 sq.kmThe construction of 1600 km of expressways was also then included in the plan.

Lucknow road congress 1984

This plan has been prepared keeping in view the growth pattern envisaged in various fields by the turn
of the century. Some of the salient features of this plan are as given below:This was the third 20 year
road plan (1981-2001). It is also called Lucknow road plan.It aimed at constructing a road length of 12
lakh kilometres by the year 1981 resulting in a road density of 82kms/100 sq.kmThe plan has set the
target length of NH to be completed by the end of seventh, eighth and ninth five year plan periods.It
aims at improving the transportation facilities in villages, towns etc. such that no part of country is
farther than 50 km from NH.One of the goals contained in the plan was that expressways should be
constructed on major traffic corridors to provide speedy travel.Energy conservation, environmental
quality of roads and road safety measures were also given due importance in this plan.

The Lucknow Road Plane (1981-2001)

Earlier two road development plans led to 2 shortcomings:

(i) 1st two plans were not conceived to meet the needs of freight & passenger movement by road.

(ii) The plans were not part of the total transportation plan of the country.

Features of Lucknow road Plan

• Roads should be classified for India as follow:

(a) Primary system : (i) Expressways (ii) National Highways.

(b) Secondary system : (i) State highways (ii) Major District Roads.

(c) Tertiary system (Rural Roads) : (i) Other District Roads (ii) Village Roads.

• Road length for the year 2001 should be 27,00,000 km giving a density of 82 km/100 sq. km.

• An all-weather road should connect all villages or groups of villages with a population of 500 and
above by 2001. For villages less than a population of 500, the road network shall be so planned as to
result in an all-weather road being available at a distance of less than 3 km in plain areas and 5 km in
hilly terrain.

• Expressways should be constructed on major traffic corridors to provide speedy travel.

• National Highways should form a square grid of 100 km x 100 km.

• State Highways should be extended to serve the district headquarters, sub-divisional (taluka)
headquarters, major industrial centers, places of commercial interest, places of tourist attraction, major
agricultural market centers and ports.

• The Major District Roads should serve and connect all towns and villages with a population of 1,500
and above.

• The other District Roads should serve and connect villages with a population of 1,000.1,500.

• Energy conservation, environmental quality of roads and road safety measures were also given due
importance in this plan

2.3 Classification of Roads

The roads are named according to the type of constructions, jurisdiction and important function etc.
Names like earth, metalled roads, asphalt roads, and concrete roads indicate the type of constructions.
Names like local roads, district roads, state highways, national highways indicate their jurisdiction.
Names like rectangular roads, ring roads, and diagonal roads, radial and circular roads indicate their
geometric shape. Names like Avenue, Promenade (a pleasure drive, with water front at least on side),
Boulevards and Parkways indicate their dominant function.

The urban roads are classified as per their importance such as:
I. Arterial roads
II. Secondary or sub-arterial roads

III. Local roads

IV. Other roads

Arterial Roads:

These are that roads which connect the town to state highway or a national highway. They pass through
the city limits and carry a large amount of traffic and therefore should be planned as straight as possible,
avoiding sharp curves. Change in direction should be a accompanied by smooth curves. These should
not enter into the heart of the city at any cost, should have very few road junctions, which should be
controlled by roundabouts or fly-overs. They should have no obstructions such as frontage of buildings,
loading or unloading areas, parking places, and pedestrians on the carriage way. Further these roads
may be made more pleasing creating squares, erecting public and semi- public buildings at the focal
points to invite through traffic and encourage speedy transportation by removing all types of traffic
barriers. The width of these roads should not be less than 25 m. to 30 m

Secondary or Sub-arterial Roads

Also known as major roads they run within the limits of the town connecting its important centres. They
are designed for slow moving traffic and cover a short distance. The sub- arterial roads act as a link
between the arterial roads and local roads. The sub-arterial roads should be improved and provided
with safety measures at intersections

Local Roads

These roads, also known as minor roads, are meant to provide approach to the buildings, officers, shops,
schools, colleges etc. There should be no through traffic here and so the local roads are not linked with
the arterial roads. These roads need not be straight but can follow the contours of the land. These roads
are used for residential units, shopping and business centres. They therefore form the pocket or precinct
roads mainly to serve the non-vehicular traffic. The width of these roads should not be less than 7m to
10 m.

Other Roads:

(a) By-pass Roads

When the main or through roads pass through the congested areas of the towns, there will be
considerable reduction in the speed of the vehicles and the smooth flow of the traffic is largely affected
resulting loss of time and fuel. In order to maintain the smooth and speedy flow of traffic, bypass roads
are constructed. These are also called as loop-roads (figure 2.5) through which the main traffic can pass
from one side and again join on the main road on the other side thus avoiding the congested area or
ribbon development of the town.

(b) Oute T outer ring er and inner

These roads a g road is me Figur r Ring Road are in the fo eant to divert Figure 2. re 2.6 Outer ds orm of
circle t the through .5 By-pass R r and Inner es or rings a h traffic appr Roads Ring Road and hence th
roaching the ds. he name, See e town. The Figure 2.6 inner ring ro . The ad is meant to divert the local
from through traffic. These ring roads help to reduce the traffic congestion of the large towns.

(c) Express-ways

The express-way is meant to function as arterial road for the movement of fast moving traffic in the big
metropolitan cities like, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi etc. Two to three such express-ways are necessarily to
be provided around big cities of modern days to face the tremendous growth of the traffic. They
however should not form a part of the regular street system, although they should be suitably joined
and linked with them. Express-ways are designed with easy gradients and smooth curves so as to carry
the traffic speedily and safely. These are originated from the German Autobahnen and Italian
Autostrade. These are comparable next to railways in cost and carrying capacity of traffic.

(d) Free-ways

These are the special routes meant to carry fast moving traffic and therefore designed with high
standard of alignment, clear visibility, wide carriage way, easy gradient and smooth curves etc. There is
no access from adjacent properties as a result full width of free-way is made available for the fast
moving vehicles without any obstruction. The free-ways function as arterial roads passing around the
city with controlled access. They also act as main entrances and exits as such they form a part of major
road system.