Permanent ban on two-wheelers, autos on BKC connector

Twowheelers and autos can never access the BKC connector with the traffic department imposing a permanent ban on these vehicles on the overpass With this move bikers have forever lost access to the 4th bridge in the city Twowheeler users termed the decision unfortunate and wondered if Mumbairsquos flyovers are meant only for cars The 16km elevated road was inaugurated in November 2019The connector links the business district of Bandra Kurla Complex with the SionPanvel Highway From day one it was unclear whether bikes and autos would be allowed on itThe Kalanagar junction flyover at Bandra East is also on the radar PicPradeep DhivarldquoIn order to resolve traffic deadlock on Bandra Kurla Complex BKCChembur connector Flyover Bridge was constructed by the MMRDA However in view of fast and free flow of traffic on both bounds of the bridge entry to two wheeler three wheeler and heavy vehicles is permanently restricted from November 29rdquo said a notification by traffic police departmentAbhishek Choudhari a bike enthusiast and a member of various superbike groups was upset He told midday ldquoThis is a very unfortunate decision by the traffic police I donrsquot understand why biker and threewheelers have been banned on the flyover Are we not paying road tax Even cars also meet with accidents on flyovers Will they ban them too The BMC and traffic police are running away from their responsibilities by banning bikersrdquoTraffic police said they first studied the movement of vehicles entry of bikes and heavy vehicles before taking a call The study found out that traffic flow will be much smoother if the movement of bikes autos and heavy vehicles are restricted on the overpassNeil Coelho a superbike owner and riding enthusiast said ldquoThe problem is not all bikers Yes there are a few bikers who donrsquot follow rules They should be punished but putting a blanket ban on bikers doesnrsquot serve the purpose of the flyover In fact the condition of the roads is so pathetic that even cars suffer due to itrdquoCoelho said he has HarleyDavidson and Kawasaki Versys bikes and they have the best tyres ldquoThey too leave the roads many times Traffic police should pursue BMC for better roads rather than blaming bikersrdquoAV Shenoy a transport expert and member of Mumbai Mobility Forum said ldquoI support the ban on bikers on flyovers as we have seen indiscipline from them But I didnrsquot understand the ban on threewheelers ie autos How does it reduce the speed It also has commuters and they certainly put curbs on the speed of autos Flyovers are meant to make travel speedy but putting a ban or restriction doesnrsquot serve the purposerdquo he addedldquoThe decision was taken after studying the movement of the traffic after restricting two and threewheelers The connector is a great help to decongest the bottlenecks at Sion and Dharavi Tjunction There have been some modifications to the Kalanagar bridge to reduce accidents We are keeping a close eye on traffic movement on itrdquo said Raj Tilak Roshan DCP HeadquarterCentralEye on Kalanagar flyover tooThe traffic police are also keeping an eye on the newly inaugurated Kalanagar bridge as it saw accidents involving twowheelers They have also put rumblers and signages to reduce the speed of vehiclesThe flyover which connects the WEH with the BKC was opened in June ldquoThe flyover has sharp turns resulting in bike accidents As per our recommendations rumblers and signage have been placed but we are keeping a close eye on the traffic movement If needed we will have to take a decision about it toordquo said a senior traffic police officer16Length in km of the BKC connector