Centre asks states to notify measures to curb congestion on highways

THe unification authorities has asked states to notify 15-metre no-development buffers on futurity knell roads and bypasses and regulate construction in wider two-km influence zones around them as part of its urban decongestion policy to curb ribbon development that creates congestion on highways.Ribbon development refers to the unplanned growth of buildings, shops, warehouses, fuel stations, and housing colonies along major roads and highways outside planned municipal limits.The Union road transport and highways ministry’s framework seeks greater state participation in funding urban decongestion projects through multiple cost-sharing models, including a 50:50 split in land acquisition costs, land pooling, reimbursement of state GST and royalties, and a value-capture mechanism that allows governments to recover part of the increase in land values generated by highway projects and use it to finance ring roads and bypasses.The move comes amid growing concern that bypasses and ring roads built to ease congestion often lose effectiveness within a decade as residential colonies, commercial establishments, and local roads proliferate along their edges. Long-distance freight and passenger traffic increasingly mix with local traffic, slowing movement and undermining the purpose of the original investment.The ministry said an earlier assessment of cities with populations above 500,000 found that 80 urban centres recorded a drop of over 10% in highway speeds as traffic passed through them. While projects are under implementation in some locations, interventions still need to be planned in 48 cities.The phenomenon is visible across several major urban centres. Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road, conceived as a peripheral mobility corridor, has evolved into one of the city’s largest commercial and residential hubs, hosting technology parks, offices, malls, and housing developments. Similar trends have emerged around peripheral road networks in Hyderabad, Pune, and parts of the National Capital Region, where infrastructure built to decongest cities has generated fresh traffic demand.To prevent a repeat of this cycle, all future urban decongestion projects on national highways will be developed as fully access-controlled corridors with a minimum four-lane configuration and closed tolling systems. The ministry said this would help maintain operating speeds of 100-120 kmph by separating through traffic from local urban movement.States will be required to notify a prohibited development control zone extending 15 metres on either side of new bypasses and ring roads. The buffer will permit only public utility and transport-related infrastructure, such as power lines, water pipelines, sewerage networks, and bus stops. Beyond this, states may create a regulated development zone extending up to two km on either side of the corridor for planned residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional development.To fund future projects, the policy outlines four models for state participation: sharing land acquisition costs, reimbursing the state component of GST, land pooling, and value-capture financing. Under the value-capture mechanism, states would levy charges linked to land-use changes, development charges, betterment levies, or additional stamp duties within the influence zone of a bypass or ring road and share part of the proceeds with the Centre for up to 15 years.The ministry said highway projects often generate substantial windfall gains for landowners as property values rise sharply after new infrastructure is built. The value-capture framework seeks to channel a portion of these gains back into public infrastructure.The policy encourages states to adopt land-pooling models used in Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, and Gujarat to reduce acquisition costs while allowing landowners to benefit from planned development.The framework requires projects to be planned with a horizon of up to 50 years, taking into account projected urban expansion and demographic growth. It also mandates integration with city master plans and the PM Gati Shakti platform to better align highway development, logistics infrastructure and urban growth.