[SILVER-ARROW]

Came across this wonderful post on Instagram which throws light on how the Indian national highways are numbered.

The owner of the channel has beautifully explained with pictorial images the concept behind the numbering philosophy of highways.





















Link to the source of post is below:-
https://www.instagram.com/p/CaZB_qrr...dium=copy_link

Note for Moderators:- Couldn't find a unique thread on this topic, kindly merge in appropriate thread if necessary.

[Samurai]

Nice information...

I travelled NH66, NH169A and NH75 today. So I covered all the 3 types of NH.

[catchjyoti]

Interesting. So our highway numbering system is exactly opposite to the US freeway numbering system.

India
North-South: Even numbers
East-West: Odd numbers
Numbers increase from North to South and East to West.

USA
North-South: Odd numbers
East-West: Even numbers
Numbers increase from South to North and West to East.

[raksrules]

This is cool. I had never known that our highways are numbered as per a system or one can say I never bothered to check.
But I had read (as I stayed there) about the Interstate highway system in US as how they were numbered and how exits are numbered where they are done in case new exits have to be created and not mess up with the entire sequential numbering. It is very fascinating.

Damn, now I really miss those long drives on US Highways cruising at 70 Mph on my Humble (by US Standards) Toyota Camry.

[dicor]

Thanks for sharing. Now I know why the highway beside my home is NH30.

I have a an emotional story to share.

My home is in a small village situated beside old NH7 near Maihar, MP. At that time, it was longest highway in India running from Varanasi to Kanyakumari.

There was a big green rectangular board right besides my house and it had reflective sticker stating "NH-7" in XXXL size.

During my 20s, I moved to Hyderabad for my training.

I took a rented accommodation in Himayat Nagar which is situated on old NH-7. Although the bypass was used, but technically it was the NH-7.

Co-incidentally there was an identical big green board and it had reflective sticker stating "NH-7" in XXXL size.

Although I never suffered from home sickness but there were times in the night when I missed my family, I used to walk and sit beneath that board. I just used to feel at home.

I had a feeling if something goes wrong, I can start walking beside this road and will reach to my home.

The road is no longer NH7, it is NH30 now, but we locals still call it NH7. There is an old Dhaba, which still says "NH7 Dhaba".

[sukhbirST]

Thanks for sharing the useful information. Agree with @ dicor that all of us have been emotionally attached to highways. My village is lucky to be on a small highway and even now most of us pass times on the small shops discussing everything under the sun. Many families owe their survival on these highways. They were the highway to home during lockdown. Many consider it safe to drive on these highways which was unheard of before their development.

[SKavuri]

Thanks for the info.

There is also a color coding system for the milestones in india.

National Highways : Yellow Stripe
State Highways : Green Stripe
District and City Roads: Black Stripe or no stripe (all white)

[ruzbehxyz]

Source: Wikipedia.

Above is the new numbering of National highways.

[RGK]

Originally Posted by catchjyoti

Interesting. So our highway numbering system is exactly opposite to the US freeway numbering system.

After L&T built the famous bye-pass in Coimbatore (called L&T Byepass) , I sent an email to them requesting that they establish a common convention for highway numbering. Regrettably, it is still known by such name.

At the very least, this uniform convention will aid in the identification and visualisation of all the routes. People in areas near Coimbatore, in particular, are well informed about directions. Even today, they will always advise you based on directions solely. (For example, go west to this house, then north after this shop, and so on.) The similar approach is used in the United States, for example, I 101 N. In terms of freeways, the United States is the finest.