NEW SPEED LIMITS ON CARDS across State

Will be effective only after installation of signboards

| JUNE 19, 2018, 08:01 PM IST

GUILHERME ALMEIDA   

MARGAO    

The National Highway administration is mulling maximum speed limits in line with the April 9 notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.   

The outdated speed limits notified by the District Magistrates over a decade ago may become a thing of the past as the National Highways administration, has proposed to the Regional Officer, Mumbai new speed limits all along the NH stretches in the state, right from Patradevi to Polem and along the Anmod ghat highway and the highway passing through the port town of Vasco.   

While the Regional Officer’s nod for the speed limit proposal may just be a formality, it may take some time before the new speed limits come into force. For, the new speed limits proposal, once it finds favour with the Regional officer, will come into force only after the speed limit sign boards are installed all along the highways.   

Officials in the know say this may take some time since the highway administration may need around 4000 sign boards to cover the length and breadth of highways across the state, which involves huge costs.   

A glance at the proposal submitted by the National Highway administration, Goa to the NH Regional Officer, Mumbai suggests new speed limits taking into account the ground realities.   

The Airport road may be the only highway where drivers may be eligible to drive down at a maximum speed of 100 km/hour at stretches between Birla-Titan junction to Queeny Nagar Junction and Queeny Nagar junction to MES junction. 

While the speed limit at the Queen Nagar junction and the MES junction has been restricted to 50 km/ hour, the speed limit between Airport junction to Varunapuri junction is proposed at 70 km/hour, sources said.   

Speed limits on major bridges and flyovers across the state (Mandovi and Zuari bridges, besides the Margao flyover) is restricted to 30 km/hour. Similarly, speed limit has been restricted to 40-50 km/hour where highways traverse populated towns.   

The new proposal has mooted speed limit of 70 km/ hour from Patradevi to Torsem and further down to the Soccoro junction, Porvorim, barring Torsem-Malpem garage and Malpem Garage-Dhargal where the speed has been restricted to 50 and 60 km/hour respectively.   

Down South, the proposed speed limits differ along the stretch from Cortalim to Nuvem. While the Cortalim junction-Kesarval motel will have a speed limit of 60 km/hour, a 70 km/hour speed has been mooted along the Kesarval motel-Pirnim petrol pump junction.   

Similarly, different speed limits have been proposed further down South beyond Navelim. Take the case of the Navelim-Dramapur stretch, where the speed limit of 60 km/hour has been proposed by the Highway Administration. Unlike the present speed limits, ranging from 40-60 km/hour, a speed limit of 70 km/hour has been proposed along the Dramapur-Chinchinim junction and Chinchinim junction to the Petrol pump, Panzorconne-Cuncolim.   

 ‘The Highway administration has taken the ground realities into account while proposing the new speed limits. The new speed restrictions are in line with the center’s notification The 100 km/hour speed limit has been proposed along the Birla-Titan junction to Queeny Nagar junction given that the stretch is a divided carriage way and a non-residential area. Similarly, the Queeny Nagar junction and MES junction stretch is a non-residential area and a four lane divided carriageway,” the official added. 


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