 France's eternal Wanderlust led him to make tracks first on foot, then in animal driven carts over cart tracks. Man's ingenuity led to the evolution of motor transport and the need for better roads all over the world. To the British Raj, attention was paid mainly to roads of strategic importance. One came independence and with it the emphasis on unifying the country. The government committed itself to the mammoth task of developing and maintaining the arterial link roads which came to be known as national highways. From a sketchy network in 1947 rapid progress was made and the total length of the national highways today stands at over 29,000 kilometers. They are now becoming increasingly popular for carrying heavy and long distance traffic. So far an amount of over 8,000 million rupees has been spent on their development. In addition to widening these roads to two lanes, basic deficiencies have been removed. All improvements are aimed at securing fast, smooth and uninterrupted travel. Widening of highways to two lane roads will not only accommodate the rapidly changing size and character of traffic on them but will also help reduce fuel consumption and transport costs. Such roads have been constructed even through tricky mountains. National highways today span the length and breadth of the country, connecting state capitals, major ports, industrial complexes and places of tourist interest. Some heavy traffic road sections near major cities and industrial complexes are being widened to four lanes and this is being done without interruption to traffic. Wayside amenities like truck parking lots, petrol stations, roast houses and roadside eating places are also being provided. The Central Road Research Institute Delhi is playing a vital role in the research connected with highways. Experiments are being conducted to improve the quality of roads and a number of low cost techniques have been developed. Mechanized road construction has led not only to good arriving quality roads but quick execution, longer life and reduction in maintenance costs. With the increased traffic on national highways and the need to provide more links, the old bridges proved inadequate. We built not only a vast network of highways but also constructed a number of major bridges on an average about 60 in each planned period. We have already completed over 300 bridges on national highways all over the country. Some of the major bridges are the Vashishta bridge on the Godavari in Andhra Pradesh, the bridge over the Ganga at Baksar in Bihar and the bridge over the Narmada in Gujarat. Many more bridges are under construction like the Kalwa and Kasheli bridges near Bombay and the Kali bridge in Karnataka. Due to constraints on resources, a fee is being imposed on major bridges for a limited period. This will not only help recover costs but also provide for reinvestment in the construction of other bridges. The smooth flow of highway traffic was often obstructed by railway little crossings. This was soon remedied by the construction of overhead bridges. Efforts are constantly being made to keep the wheels moving swiftly and smoothly over deserts, difficult hill tracks, through planes and with little interruption through areas affected by natural calamities. To facilitate interstate travel by road, the government has introduced the National Permit Scheme. Under this scheme, a transport registered in any state of India can travel unhampered all over the country. Hordings along the highways are a distraction to drivers, often leading to accidents. Fast and safe traffic cannot afford such distraction. Serious attention is therefore being paid to this problem. Frequent access to highways is a constant danger to through traffic. Industrial establishments set up near national highways on the outskirts of towns and cities have led to the mushrooming of shops, hotels, tea stalls, repair works and patrol pumps. This is known as ribbon development. This kind of development poses certain problems. For example, the local traffic mingles with the through traffic on the highways, thereby interrupting their fast and safe movement. Frequent stoppage of buses emitting exhaust fumes leads to air pollution. Parking of vehicles along the road obstructs traffic. To prevent such ribbon development, the government is taking a number of steps like removing encroachments on national highways, constructing bypasses and parallel service roads to ensure safe and uninterrupted traffic. The highway is for speed, the speed of progress. Economic prosperity, social development, industrial growth and the unification of this vast and beautiful country depend largely for their sustenance. On these, the arteries of our land.