No median cuts on new high-speed national highway corridors: NHAI

New access-controlled high-speed national highway corridors will have no median openings and no at-grade intersections, under guidelines NHAI issued on Monday. Raised concrete dividers will be replaced by flush medians with wire ropes or crash barriers, with advance exit signage at 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 metres. Cars may travel up to 100 kmph. The norms cover four-lane and six-lane greenfield and brownfield projects, with a 60-metre or 70-metre right of way. The government targets 50,000 km of such corridors.

Written by AI from Times of India — Top · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 22 Sept 2026, 2:23 am IST

Source

Times of India — Top · read the original report ↗

#nhai#highways#road safety#infrastructure#expressways

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

New NHAI guidelines issued on Monday bar median openings and at-grade intersections on access-controlled high-speed NH corridors. — Attributed to NHAI guidelines as stated in the source; date given only as 'Monday'.
Corridors will have flush medians with wire ropes or crash barriers instead of raised concrete dividers. — Stated in source as mandated under the guidelines; no independent document cited.
Advance exit signage at 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 metres; cars allowed up to 100 kmph. — Figures appear in the source text.
Guidelines apply to all upcoming four-lane and six-lane greenfield and brownfield access-controlled high-speed national highways. — Quoted to an unnamed NHAI spokesperson.
Government target of 50,000 km of access-controlled high-speed corridors; right of way of 60 m or 70 m. — Figures appear in the source; attributed to the guidelines/government without further sourcing.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Political Analyst

This reads as a technical circular, but the political signal is plain: the government is doubling down on its 50,000 km access-controlled corridor target as a flagship infrastructure identity. Road safety and crash reduction are politically unopposable framings, which gives the announcement an easy ride. Yet the removal of median cuts and surface intersections raises local connectivity questions for villages and small towns along these corridors — an issue this story does not address.

Highway expansion remains one of the Centre's most visible and countable performance metrics, and a 50,000 km target slots neatly into any campaign narrative.
The story itself notes that no dedicated standards existed for access-controlled highways other than expressways; filling that gap could reduce project-level disputes and delays, which is itself a governance credit.
A right of way of 60 or 70 metres puts land acquisition and compensation squarely in play, and greenfield alignments typically draw farmer and local body reactions that touch state politics.
Eliminating median openings is a strong safety argument, but demands from local representatives for access points, underpasses and interchanges for their constituencies are a routine political pressure.
The corridors named in the story — Delhi-Dehradun, Ambala-Kotputli, Trans-Haryana — are north-India centric, so questions of regional balance in allocation are likely to surface politically.

What to watch — Watch whether state governments and local MPs/MLAs press for extra interchanges, underpasses and service roads on these corridors, and how land acquisition is received on the ground.

The story establishes only the technical content of the guidelines; it says nothing about funding, timelines, state-wise allocation or any political reaction so far.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has issued new design guidelines for access-controlled high-speed national highway corridors — highways where entry and exit are restricted but which are not formally classified as expressways. Until now, no separate planning and design standards existed for this category, only for expressways. The guidelines, issued on Monday, mandate the elimination of median openings and at-grade (surface-level) intersections to remove conflict points and cut crashes on corridors where cars may run at up to 100 kmph. The government has set a target of 50,000 km of such access-controlled high-speed corridors in the coming years.

Key facts

NHAI issued the new guidelines on Monday; they bar median (divider) openings and at-grade intersections on new access-controlled high-speed national highway corridors.
Raised concrete dividers are to be replaced by flush medians — painted centre lanes with thick wire ropes or crash barriers.
Advance exit signage is mandated at 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 metres before exits to help motorists prepare for lane changes.
Cars are allowed speeds of up to 100 kmph on these access-controlled corridors.
The guidelines apply to all upcoming four-lane and six-lane greenfield and brownfield access-controlled high-speed national highways.
Corridors will have a right of way of 60 metres or 70 metres, depending on expected traffic volume and the number of structures such as bridges, flyovers and interchanges.
The government target is developing 50,000 km of access-controlled high-speed corridors over the coming years.
Existing examples cited: Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, Ambala-Kotputli corridor and Trans-Haryana corridor.

Timeline

Before the new guidelinesNo separate planning and design standards existed for access-controlled high-speed national highways, except for expressways.
Monday (date not stated in the source)NHAI issues guidelines mandating no median openings, no at-grade intersections, flush medians and advance exit signage.
September 29, 2026Barapullah Phase-3 elevated corridor in New Delhi is scheduled to be inaugurated (as per photo caption).
Coming yearsGovernment targets development of 50,000 km of access-controlled high-speed corridors.

Who has a stake

NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) — Issued the guidelines; seeks uniformity in planning and design and consistency in technical standards across projects.
Central government — Has set the 50,000 km target for access-controlled high-speed corridors; outcome depends on standardised design.
Motorists and long-distance road users — Face reduced conflict points, no cross movements or wrong-side driving, and clearer advance exit signage at high speeds.
Highway design consultants, contractors and concessionaires — Must build four-lane and six-lane greenfield and brownfield projects to the new geometric, median and signage norms within 60 m or 70 m right of way.
Users of existing corridors like Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, Ambala-Kotputli and Trans-Haryana corridors — These are cited as access-controlled corridors where cars run up to 100 kmph.
Local communities along alignments — Removal of median cuts and surface intersections changes local crossing and access patterns; land needs of 60-70 m right of way.

Why it matters

High-speed crashes on Indian highways are often linked to cross movements, wrong-side driving and abrupt lane changes at median cuts and surface intersections — exactly the conflict points the new norms remove. By filling a standards gap for highways that are access-controlled but not classified as expressways, NHAI is setting a uniform safety template for the 50,000 km of high-speed corridors the government plans to build.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

NHAI issued guidelines barring median openings and at-grade intersections on new access-controlled high-speed national highway corridors.
Flush medians with wire ropes or crash barriers replace raised concrete dividers under the new norms.
Advance exit signage mandated at four distances: 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 m.
Permitted car speed on these access-controlled corridors: up to 100 kmph.
Right of way for such corridors: 60 metres or 70 metres, based on traffic and number of structures.
Government target: 50,000 km of access-controlled high-speed corridors; examples include Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, Ambala-Kotputli and Trans-Haryana corridors.

Mains framing

India's highway expansion has outpaced its design standards: until these NHAI guidelines, dedicated planning and design norms existed only for expressways, leaving a large and growing class of access-controlled high-speed national highways without uniform rules even though cars there travel at up to 100 kmph. The new document addresses the main engineering causes of high-speed crashes — median cuts and at-grade intersections that permit cross movements and wrong-side driving, raised concrete dividers, and inadequate warning before exits — by mandating grade-separated access, flush medians with wire ropes or crash barriers, staged exit signage at 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 m, and lane configuration set by detailed traffic assessment and future traffic projections within a 60 m or 70 m right of way. The implications are threefold: safer and smoother traffic flow, standardisation across four-lane and six-lane greenfield and brownfield projects, and predictability for designers and contractors as the government pursues 50,000 km of such corridors. The way forward, as indicated in the source, lies in consistent application of these technical standards to all upcoming projects; the source does not state enforcement, retrofitting or local access arrangements, so those remain open questions.

Key terms

Access-controlled highway: A corridor where entry and exit are restricted to designated points; under the new norms, without median openings or surface-level intersections.
At-grade intersection: A surface-level crossing of roads; barred on the new corridors to prevent dangerous cross movements.
Flush median: A painted centre lane, instead of a raised concrete divider, separated by thick wire ropes or crash barriers.
Right of way: The land width reserved for the highway and its structures; fixed at 60 metres or 70 metres under the guidelines.
Greenfield and brownfield projects: Greenfield refers to entirely new alignments; brownfield to upgrades of existing roads. Both are covered by the guidelines.
NHAI: National Highways Authority of India, the body that issued the guidelines to bring uniformity in design of high-speed corridors.

Practice questions

Discuss how engineering design standards, such as NHAI's new norms on medians and intersections, can reduce fatalities on high-speed highway corridors in India.
Access control is central to highway safety but can restrict local connectivity. Examine this trade-off in the context of India's plan for 50,000 km of high-speed corridors.
What is a flush median, and how do the new NHAI guidelines differ from earlier practice on access-controlled national highways?

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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