Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described for allocating additional random access channel (RACH) resources. A user equipment (UE) may transmit a random access request to a base station. The base station may respond to the random access request with a random access response or other signaling that indicates additional RACH resources for a second random access request. The UE may select a resource from the additional RACH resources to transmit the second random access request. The network may also configure additional RACH resources for peak times and may indicate the additional RACH resources to the UE. The UE may select a resource from the additional RACH resources or baseline RACH resources and may use the selected resource to transmit a random access request.