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

  • Transforming Algeria's road network
    February 9, 2012
    Highway construction work is transforming Algeria, providing the country with a new network of highway quality road connections.
  • Transforming Algeria's road network
    April 4, 2012
    Highway construction work is transforming Algeria, providing the country with a new network of highway quality road connections. Several sections of the new trans-Algerian highway are already complete and carrying traffic, such as the stretch near the town of Setif. When complete the highway will run 1,200km across the north of the country from the border with Morocco in the west to the Tunisian border, passing through 24 provinces. This makes it the biggest highway project ever undertaken in Africa, as wel
  • Study for Dallas road development project
    July 14, 2016
    The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) awarded a US$2.75 million contract for a study to develop the corridor along a stretch of Interstate 635 (I-635) in Dallas. The two-year contract is for schematic, environmental and traffic studies for the construction of access roads along the growing section of highway and was awarded to Michael Baker International. As part of the contract, the Michael Baker team will conduct a number of detailed studies in advance of TxDOT’s plans to add more than 53km of
  • Speed management on freeways
    June 22, 2012
    Characteristics of traffic speed and flow in managed freeways - *Dr Adrian Withill. In order to maximise the benefits of existing infrastructure, in terms of reduced delays and increased safety, many governments have recently been introducing projects that measure traffic speed and flow and automatically introduce advisory or mandatory speed limits. Such schemes tend to offer relatively quick wins at relatively lower capital costs than traditional highway construction. In light of the current world economy,