Last reviewed 16 Sept 2026 · Facts as of 16 Sept 2026 · 9 min read
Transportation and the role of roads
Modes of transportation: roads (highways), railways, waterways (inland and ocean), airways and pipelines.
Characteristics of road transport:
- Maximum flexibility — door-to-door service, routes and schedules changeable.
- The only mode that can serve every area (feeder to all other modes).
- Suitable for short and medium distances, perishable goods and passenger travel.
- Lower initial investment than railways; but higher energy use per tonne-km, accidents and pollution.
Roads promote economic development, agriculture and markets, social services (health, education), national integration and defence.
History of road construction
| Period / engineer | Contribution |
|---|---|
| Roman roads (c. 312 BC onwards) | Straight roads built in layers of stones with lime mortar; very thick (about 0.75–1.2 m), with a raised central portion |
| Tresaguet (France, around 1764) | Thinner construction; large foundation stones set on edge, then smaller stones, with a cambered surface; attention to subgrade moisture and side drains |
| Telford (Scotland, early 1800s) | Heavy foundation of large flat stones on a level subgrade, with a layer of broken stones on top; camber provided by varying stone sizes |
| John Macadam (Britain, about 1827) | First scientific method — no heavy stone foundation; compacted layers of small broken stones on a well-drained, cambered subgrade; the stone layers carry and spread the load. Basis of water bound macadam (WBM) |
Development of roads in India
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1927 | Jayakar Committee (Indian Road Development Committee) — recommended a separate road fund, a semi-official technical body and a research organisation |
| 1929 | Central Road Fund — levy on petrol for road development |
| 1934 | Indian Roads Congress (IRC) — technical body that publishes codes and standards |
| 1939 | Motor Vehicles Act |
| 1943 | Nagpur Road Plan — first twenty-year plan (1943–61) |
| 1950 | Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), New Delhi |
| 1956 | National Highways Act |
| 1961 | Bombay Road Plan — second twenty-year plan (1961–81) |
| 1981 | Lucknow Road Plan — third twenty-year plan (1981–2001) |
| 1988 | National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Act (NHAI operational from 1995) |
| 1998 | National Highways Development Project (NHDP) |
| 2000 | Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) — all-weather rural road connectivity |
| 2001 | Road Development Plan — Vision 2021 (2001–21) |
| 2017 | Bharatmala Pariyojana — corridor-based highway development |
Twenty-year road development plans
| Plan | Period | Target road density | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nagpur Plan | 1943–1961 | 16 km per 100 km² of area | First plan; classified roads into NH, SH, MDR, ODR and VR; star and grid pattern; formulas for road length based on area and number of towns and villages |
| Bombay Plan | 1961–1981 | 32 km per 100 km² | Development allowances for agricultural and industrial growth; every town and village within specified distances of roads; expressways first proposed |
| Lucknow Plan | 1981–2001 | 82 km per 100 km² | Emphasis on rural roads (villages with population above 500 to be connected), national highway network expansion, expressways (about 2000 km), energy conservation, safety, environmental quality |
Classification of roads
Rural roads (Nagpur classification, modified)
| Class | Function |
|---|---|
| Expressways | High-speed, access-controlled divided highways for fast traffic |
| National Highways (NH) | Main arterial roads connecting state capitals, major ports, foreign highways, strategic areas — built and maintained with central funds |
| State Highways (SH) | Arterial roads connecting district headquarters and important cities within a state with NHs |
| Major District Roads (MDR) | Important roads within a district connecting areas of production and markets with SH/NH |
| Other District Roads (ODR) | Roads serving rural areas, connecting them with MDRs, taluk headquarters and markets |
| Village Roads (VR) | Roads connecting villages or groups of villages with each other and the nearest higher road |
ODR and VR together are rural roads.
Urban roads (IRC)
Arterial roads (through traffic, limited access), sub-arterial roads, collector streets (collect traffic from local streets to arterials) and local streets (access to properties).
Road patterns
| Pattern | Features |
|---|---|
| Rectangular (block) pattern | Grid of roads at right angles; simple, but longer travel between diagonally opposite points; e.g. Chandigarh (with sectors) |
| Radial or star and block pattern | Radial roads from a centre combined with blocks |
| Star and circular pattern | Radial roads with concentric ring roads (e.g. central Delhi around Connaught Place) |
| Star and grid pattern | Radial roads with a grid — adopted in the Nagpur Plan |
| Hexagonal pattern | Roads forming hexagons; uniform access |
| Minimum travel pattern | Roads connecting centres by the shortest paths — sector centres, suburban centres, city centre |
Highway planning
Objectives
To plan an overall road network for maximum utility, to fix priorities for phased development, to plan future development accounting for traffic growth, and to work out financing.
Planning surveys
- Economic studies — population, agricultural and industrial products, existing facilities, per capita income.
- Financial studies — sources of funds, revenue from vehicle taxes, tolls, betterment levies.
- Traffic studies — volume, origin–destination, traffic flow, accidents, future growth.
- Engineering studies — topography, soil, materials, drainage, road inventory, location surveys.
Results lead to a master plan — a long-term plan of the road network, and phasing of works.
Saturation system (maximum utility per unit length)
Used to choose between alternative road networks:
- Assign utility units to villages/towns by population ranges (and to agricultural and industrial products per tonne).
- For each alternative, total the utility units served.
- Compute utility per unit length = total utility units ÷ road length.
- The network with the highest utility per unit length is given priority.
Major programmes
- National Highways Development Project (NHDP, 1998) — phased upgrading of NHs; Golden Quadrilateral (about 5846 km linking Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata) and the North–South (Srinagar to Kanyakumari) and East–West (Silchar to Porbandar) corridors, port connectivity and further phases.
- Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY, 2000) — all-weather road connectivity to eligible unconnected habitations (population 500+ in plains; 250+ in hilly, tribal and desert areas), later phases for upgrading and consolidation.
- Bharatmala Pariyojana (2017) — economic corridors, inter-corridor and feeder roads, border and international connectivity, coastal and port connectivity roads, expressways.
- Sagarmala (port-led development) and PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (2021) for integrated multimodal infrastructure planning.
India has one of the largest road networks in the world (second largest by length).