Mumbai: 

MENACE: Traffic police say a special lane for buses will add to the traffic jam between Sion and Thane. FILE PIC

The Mumbai Traffic Police has asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) to postpone its plans of having a dedicated lane for BEST buses between Sion and Thane. They feel an exclusive lane for buses will increase the existent traffic problems due to the under-construction flyovers on Dr Ambedkar Road.

The Eastern Express Highway is usually jammed. If a lane is dedicated to buses, while another part is cordoned off to accommodate flyover work, it will further worsen the traffic situation. Apart from the flyover that is under-construction at Sion, five other flyovers were supposed to have been completed on Dr Ambedkar Road by June 2008.

The traffic police want work on these flyovers to be completed before starting the special lane. The MMRDA plans to start erecting pillars for the flyover by January 2009, but aren't sure when they'll be able to remove the protective barricades that will be put on the road. The work is likely to take three years. P R K Murthy, chief of transport and communication, MMRDA, said, "I don't know about this request from the Traffic Police. I'll have to find out."

2006

The year when the government initiated the plan to have a dedicated lane for BEST buses between Sion and Thane. The traffic department had objected to the plan then too, saying it would reduce space for private vehicles