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

The southbound side of the WEH near Santacruz being widened to accommodate more traffic. PIC/MADHULIKA RAM KAVATTUR

The digging has begun all over again along the Western Express Highway (WEH)… this time on the other side of the road. The hotspot where the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road's (SCLR) new extension arm lands on WEH is seeing activity again. Earlier, it was on the northbound lane, and this time it's 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 them.

The problem

During 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 Subway.

The service road on the eastern side of WEH is quite spacious. PICS/MADHULIKA RAM KAVATTUR

The 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 route.

Local optimism

Prakash Rajwar, a bike mechanic on the service road, said, "People 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 road."

This curved part of the WEH becomes a bottleneck as it turns to accommodate the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport's runway 09/27. 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 drive.

Anil Kumar, a local tempo driver, said, "The 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 WEH."

Autorickshaw driver Neeraj Kumar shared the same opinion, saying, "It will get easier for me to drive this way; I use this road for pick-ups and drops."

A BMC worker who was at the spot told mid-day: "This work is very beneficial, and will help ease traffic. We are hoping to complete it in a few weeks."

Officials Speak:

The 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 Mid-Day.

According 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 (BMC).

During 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 flyover.

Similarly, 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 smoother.

The width of the newly widened lane at the Agripada Subway is 3.8 metres on the northbound side, which has already been completed, and 3.6 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 criss-cross vehicular movement, the official added.