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Highways for high-speed vehicles only

Ridwan Quaium | Tuesday, 14 July 2015


Pedestrians, rickshaws, rickshaw-vans, auto-rickshaws and other slower moving vehicles plying the country's highways are a common sight. Even kitchen and various types of open-air markets are also found along the highway sides.
Since most of the highways in the country are two-lane two-way, and many of them lack a proper shoulder, the speed of a vehicle is restricted by that of the vehicle ahead. If there is a slow-moving vehicle, then all the vehicles behind have to adjust to the former's speed until they are able to go past it. This slows down the overall traffic movement and increases the travel time of the faster-moving vehicles.
To pass by the slow-moving ones, faster-moving vehicles often have to travel into the lane in the opposite direction. Sometimes, due to visibility reasons, drivers are not able to judge the presence of an approaching vehicle on the opposite side, until they enter the lane in the opposite direction. This often leads to head-on collisions.
The makeshift markets along highways have reduced the travel path on these roads. In addition, drivers have to drive at a lower speed to ensure that they do not hit the pedestrians and collide with the slow-moving vehicles coming to the market.
According to the roadway classification system, highways are designed for mobility rather than accessibility. Highways are designed for high-speed or fast-moving vehicles to travel long distances as opposed to local or neighbourhood streets which are designed for slow-moving vehicles to travel shorter distances.
For this very reason, movement of slow-moving vehicles is prohibited on the highways and freeways in many countries as the plan conflicts with the definition of highways, which is to provide mobility to high-speed vehicles.
In fact, researches have demonstrated that due to 'differential speed' (the increase in speed difference between the fast-moving vehicles and the slow-moving ones) the potential risk of an accident increases, if slow-moving vehicles are allowed on the highways.
To provide an uninterrupted flow of traffic on highways, many countries have provided access management on these roads, meaning that vehicles can enter and exit the highways only through certain locations. To ensure that slow-moving vehicles do not disrupt traffic flow on highways, for movement of slower-moving vehicles many countries have provided 'frontage roads' or 'service roads' parallel to the highway.
Traffic movement on highways will increase significantly as Eid holidays approach. To provide a smooth journey to homebound travellers, it is essential to prohibit slow-moving vehicles from travelling on highways and to relocate the markets from the highway to areas inside the nearby towns. Slow-moving vehicles should be encouraged to use the local roads. In addition, bus operators should be instructed to take in and drop passengers only at the designated bus stops. In the long run, for movement of slow-moving vehicles, frontage roads should be built parallel to highways.
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