Delhi-Meerut Expressway to get variable speed limits from Aug 15

In a first-of-its-kind project, commuters using the Delhi-Meerut Expressway will encounter different speed limits depending on the travel hour from August 15, officials said on Wednesday. 

Passing through the key NCR cities such as Ghaziabad and Noida, the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) has had the same speed limits for cars and heavy vehicles. Under the ‘variable speed limit’ pilot project, the speed limit on the Delhi side of the expressway will be subject to the congestion on the road.

As per the plan, between 12 and 7 am, the speed limit will be 65 kmph for cars and 50 kmph for heavy vehicles (HVs). From 7 am to 5 pm, it will be 55 kmph for cars and 45 kmph for HVs. Between 5 pm and 12 am, it will be 60 kmph and 40 kmph for cars and HVs, respectively.

“The variable speed limit project will be implemented from August 15 between the Akshardham and Sarai Kale Khan stretch of the expressway in the first phase. This will be the first such project in the country,” Satish Chandra, professor, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Roorkee, said. He is working on the project with the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI). The existing speed signboards on DME have been either covered or blurred to avoid any confusion. The CRRI has also installed special sensors on the expressway to record the vehicular movement data.

Chandra said, “The researchers studied 24-hour traffic data of the expressway over the past few months and then decided upon these speed limits. The main objective of the project is to reduce congestion and accidents on the roads. We will collect data after an interval of three months and asses the actual effect of the project on the ground.”

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which manages the expressway, is the implementing agency for the project.

A senior Delhi Traffic Police officer said the speed limits and any variation in them are based entirely on a scientific traffic study done by a different department and are aimed at improving road safety as well as traffic flow.

“So far, we have learnt that two digital variable speed limit display boards have been installed on separate foot overbridges along the Delhi stretch of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. One has been installed near the Akshardham temple, and the other near the Pandav Nagar FOB. Our role is to monitor compliance and take action against motorists found overspeeding,” the officer said.

Another police officer said that besides the variable speed limit display boards, speed detection cameras will also be installed along the corridor, which will automatically enforce the speed limit displayed at a particular time, detect vehicles violating the prescribed limit and notify the drivers.

Officials have also noted that almost 20 per cent of the vehicles that use the expressway are heavy commercial vehicles. Meanwhile, the remaining 80 per cent are passenger vehicles. This large variation in vehicle types and speeds also creates bottlenecks. They particularly happen during busy hours.

Traffic studies have also found that between 7 am and 7 pm, the expressway experiences consistently high traffic volumes. During the morning rush hour between 7 am and 9 am, vehicles may be travelling at speeds of around 100 kmph and 70 kmph simultaneously. However, congestion still develops because of the speed differences and increasing traffic density.

Similarly, during the evening, heavy traffic builds up around the Ring Road. This then results in long queues and slower movement.

The proposed time-based speed limits are expected to reduce these speed variations and improve the overall flow of traffic.