Freeways --- the Indian way!

Some recent advances notwithstanding, India's highway infrastructure is generally regarded as abysmal. Perhaps rightly so---it depends on what you compare against.

Recently, I undertook a 300 plus km road journey from the capital New Delhi to Ludhiana in Punjab. The journey was along the Grand-Trunk (GT) road which, in this part of the country, has been renovated significantly. Today, the entire highway is 4 (2 by 2) lane, with space for road shoulders on either sides; the road condition is generally good, allowing travel at reasonably high speeds without interruptions; there are eateries/petrol stations all along the way, which, besides their usual business, provide a welcome relief for passengers by housing reasonably clean toilets; and vehicles pay toll to use the highway. Yet, the highway looks no where as "jazzy" as the Malaysia's north-south highway or a US interstate freeway. While the highways in the developed world are exclusively for vehicles that pay the toll, on the GT road, I noticed bi-cycles occupying the road shoulder. I believe they would have reached the roads from the sides which are not very strictly guarded. Then, highways in the developed countries usually by-pass the cities and towns---one exits the highway to enter the towns and cities. By contrast, our pay road occasionally ran right through the cities and also had to accomodate traffic lights once in a while. Our bus-driver even took a U-turn on the highway and drove about 500 m in the wrong direction! Now that happens only in India!

Oddities at first sight, it was these observations that made me think. Perhaps this is a reasonable model for developing the highway infrastructure in our country: Develop four-lane pay roads along the existing national highways by widening the existing roads and without excessively curbing the avenues for entering the leaving the roads midways (between the toll stations) for entry/exit from/to the villages en-route. This no-doubt somewhat hinders with the free-flowing nature of the traffic, otherwise possible on high-speed highways. Nevertheless, the speeds allowed by such highways are clearly higher than the old roads that we have had, thanks largely to the separation of the traffic flows along the two directions. More importantly, it is cheaper to build such highways than extensive networks that countries like the US boast. Secondly, it gives everybody, including the one who can only afford a bi-cycle or a bullock-cart, something to reap from this investment. Yes, they do not look as majestic as those in richer countries, but then, who cares. They are freeways in another sense, in my opinion more suitable for our needs.