Mumbai: Digging resumes on WEH as SCLR extension works shift to southbound lane

The digging has begun all over again along the Western Express Highway WEHhellip this time on the other side of the road The hotspot where the SantacruzChembur Link Roadrsquos SCLR new extension arm lands on WEH is seeing activity again Earlier it was on the northbound lane and this time itrsquos the southbound lane While the previous expansion efforts had locals worrying about the bottleneck on the Milan Subway service road the locals of the southbound side are optimistic that it will be beneficial for themThe problemDuring the first expansions on the northbound road many locals had been unhappy with it as it minimised the space that is available for those who want to drive or walk towards the Milan SubwayThe service road on the eastern side of WEH is quite spacious PICSMADHULIKA RAM KAVATTURThe subway service road sees high traffic during peak hours which is managed by one or two traffic police officers who are stationed along the road Though that is the case on the northbound side those who are on the southbound side say that after the expansion of WEH more people would be using the highway instead of the service road relieving pressure along the routeLocal optimismPrakash Rajwar a bike mechanic on the service road said ldquoPeople only come onto the service road when the traffic on WEH is high If they expand the main road it is only going to give commuters space to go through and relieve congestion along the service roadrdquoThis curved part of the WEH becomes a bottleneck as it turns to accommodate the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airportrsquos runway 0927 The bottleneck is one of the reasons why the WEH sees heavy congestion during peak hours and it can be expected that this expansion on both sides would help commuters have an easier driveAnil Kumar a local tempo driver said ldquoThe road is mostly used by those who want to go into the bylines along the service road or by truck drivers who supply cargo or other materials to the airport Once the road is widened it will be easier for truck drivers and others to go from here as those who are going towards Bandra will use the widened WEHrdquoAutorickshaw driver Neeraj Kumar shared the same opinion saying ldquoIt will get easier for me to drive this way I use this road for pickups and dropsrdquoA BMC worker who was at the spot told midday ldquoThis work is very beneficial and will help ease traffic We are hoping to complete it in a few weeksrdquoOfficials SpeakThe construction of the flyover connecting Hans Bhugra Road to the Western Express Highway WEH has been completed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA However after the flyover was opened for public use an intersecting traffic snarl was observed on the Western Express Highway near Panbai School a highly placed official in BMC shared with MidDayAccording to the official vehicular traffic from the service road of WEH which is meant to move onto the main carriageway began impeding the traffic flow coming from the newly constructed connector flyover Several joint site visits were subsequently conducted involving the MMRDA Commissioner the Joint Commissioner of Police Traffic and senior officials from MMRDA and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMCDuring these site inspections it was decided to widen the Agripada Subway to create space for an additional lane merging into the Western Express Highway This extra lane is specifically meant for vehicles moving from the service road onto WEH thereby avoiding intersection with traffic approaching from the newly built flyoverSimilarly on the southbound stretch of WEH a bottleneck had been causing long traffic snarls during peak hours With the merging of an additional lane into the highway traffic movement on WEH is expected to become smootherThe width of the newly widened lane at the Agripada Subway is 38 metres on the northbound side which has already been completed and 36 metres on the southbound side where work is currently in progress The widening of the subway has already helped ease traffic from the service road of WEH by eliminating crisscross vehicular movement the official added