Skip to main content

Kathmandu's road widening project to ease congestion

The authorities in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu are working on widening the Kathmandu Valley road, a key project that has already seen the demolition of many structures along its boundary. The take-up of land has been eased by The Road Act, Nepal, which secures the roadside area of 25m on either side of the road on the National Highway.
May 11, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Widening work is needed in Nepal because of a significant increase in the number of vehicles in the Kathmandu Valley
The authorities in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu are working on widening the Kathmandu Valley road, a key project that has already seen the demolition of many structures along its boundary.

The take-up of land has been eased by The Road Act, Nepal, which secures the roadside area of 25m on either side of the road on the National Highway.

The Department of Roads has worked with the Kathmandu Metropolitan City and Kathmandu Valley Urban Development Committee on the clearing operation.

The aim of the project is to build additional lanes to address traffic congestion along the route, and the 2437 Ministry of Physical Planning and Works is also constructing new and improvised bus stops to further reduce congestion and deliver more efficient traffic management.

The widening work is needed because of a significant increase in the numbers of vehicles in the Kathmandu Valley. Until now there has been no work to improve vehicle flow or provide effective traffic management while the existing road network has become insufficient for the growing numbers of vehicles in the area. This has resulted in the whole traffic system becoming clogged, particularly at peak periods during office hours.

In 1992 when Nepal’s government passed the Transportation Management Act there were 48,188 registered vehicles in the Kathmandu Valley and the total length of the road network in the area was 1,595km. There are now 567,670 registered in the Kathmandu Valley (not including other vehicles registered elsewhere in the country travelling through the valley or vehicles entering the country from neighbouring China or India).

Nepal’s Metropolitan Traffic Division claims there are now around 800,000 vehicles in the valley, and a number of areas will benefit from the new bus stops.

Nepal’s government is also constructing link roads and new roads to address traffic management, with the Kathmandu Valley Urban Development Committee working on the US$12 million Dhobikhola Corridor, a 5.7km road due for completion soon.

Related Content

  • Japan to fund Nepal tunnel
    September 8, 2016
    A new road tunnel in Nepal will provide a key transport link from the country’s capital, Kathmandu. The 2.5km tunnel will be Nepal’s first and should help cut traffic congestion in the Thankot Pass, which lies to the west of the capital.
  • Challenges of NMT in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam
    September 13, 2016
    Developing safety for non-motorised transport in East Africa - Shem Oirere writes. Despite increasing national budgetary allocations for the road sector in recent years, governments in East Africa have made very low investments in non-motorised transport (NMT). This is despite the fact that both Kenya and Uganda have recently passed a policy on pedestrian and cycling safety. In Kenya, the County government of Nairobi, the country’s capital, has embraced a NMT policy, while in Uganda the government has passe
  • India rushing to improve its highway system
    February 9, 2012
    Despite the world economic slowdown, India still seems in a rush to improve its highway system as Patrick Smith reports. Later this year India will be seen by hundreds of millions worldwide when the country's capital New Delhi hosts its biggest event ever.
  • Free flow tolling technology is booming
    April 10, 2013
    Jon Masters reports on the latest moves in the free-flow tolling segment. Free-flow tolling of roads and discrete infrastructure, such as bridges and tunnels, is an area of transportation that appears to be booming. Tolling in general is on the up, often still as a means for funding road projects where public sector budgets can no longer cover the necessary costs, but not exclusively so. Several high profile examples of road user charging for ‘demand management’ – the reduction of congestion as part of a wi