Mumbai: Eastern Freeway ramps thrown open

After a three-year delay, the ramps of Eastern Freeway going towards South Mumbai and coming down towards Wadala, which were awaiting opening, were finally opened on Monday by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).

An MMRDA official said, "The land on which the ramps have been made is completely proper now and is not sinking. The work of installation of the signals above the ramps has been complete and the traffic department gave us permission to open the ramps."

Sources from MMRDA told mid-day that after the opening of the ramps, there was traffic jam on the location where the ramps meets the Freeway as there were rumblers that were installed to reduce the speed of vehicles coming in speedily from the Freeway. In order to avoid further traffic, the rumblers will be replaced with reflector paint that will be used to do lane marking.

On May 1, mid-day had done a story (Mumbai: Eastern Freeway ramps may never see light of day) in which it was stated that how public funds were being wasted as the ramps for allowing mid-way entry onto Eastern Freeway hadn't been opened despite a lengthy delay. MMRDA officials had said that piers built on marshy land need strengthening first and transport experts had said that sharp curves were a recipe for collision.

The 250-metre-long ramps that were opened on Monday will help motorists travelling between South Mumbai and areas like Sion, Kurla, Ghatkopar and Wadala get onto the Freeway easily.

As the ramps were leading towards the curve, the traffic police had reportedly refused to clear the opening due to fears of accidents at the spot where the south-bound ramp takes a sharp curve onto the Freeway.

The traffic police wanted signals to first be installed at the spot - a suggestion that hasn't gone down well with MMRDA authorities since the Eastern Freeway was pegged to be a signal-less stretch.