Which National Highway connects Chennai and Visakhapatnam ?

National Highway 5 (NH 5) is the historical designation for the major east coast highway connecting Chennai in Tamil Nadu to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh [t1]. Under the new numbering system implemented by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in 2010, this route was re-designated as National Highway 16 (NH 16) [c1][t4]. NH 16 is a primary national highway that runs along the eastern coast of India, connecting Kolkata to Chennai and passing through major cities like Visakhapatnam, Bhubaneswar, and Cuttack [t5][t8]. It forms a critical part of the Golden Quadrilateral project, specifically the Kolkata-Chennai leg [c1][c5]. Official documents and local reports still frequently refer to the stretch within Visakhapatnam as 'Old NH-5' [t2][t7]. Therefore, among the given options, NH 5 is the correct historical identifier for the highway connecting these two cities.

Sources

1. [1] Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 12: Transport, Communications and Trade > Table 12.1 > p. 7
2. [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_national_highways_in_India
3. [3] Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 12: Transport, Communications and Trade > Highways and Roads > p. 3
4. [4] https://morth.nic.in/en/proposal-access-permission-private-property-km-759861-874-lhs-kolkata-chennai-section-nh-16-old-nh-5
5. [5] https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/andhra-pradesh-govt-plans-to-construct-a-double-decker-corridor-on-old-nh-5-stretch-to-decongest-traffic-in-visakhapatnam/article68845339.ece