Civic officials stated that the purpose of the traffic calming devices is to control the speed of oncoming traffic from LBS Marg. Aniket Suranje, a site engineer from the BMC’s road department, said, “LBS Marg sees a lot of traffic and the ROB has S-shaped entrances, so these speed breakers exist to prevent commuters from speeding
An aerial view of the entrance of the Vikhroli rail overbridge from LBS Marg on June 11. Pics/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is preparing to inaugurate the Vikhroli rail overbridge (ROB) — India’s longest such structure — several commuters have raised concerns about two 3.5-metre-long speed breakers installed at the LBS Marg end of the east-west connector.
“Installing multiple speed breakers on a section that is descending makes sense because you are coming down a slope and might be moving at a high speed. But the presence of many speed breakers on the ascent only inconveniences commuters. I drive a car and ride a bike. Even if I can get onto the bridge easily while driving, I doubt if I’ll be able to smoothly manoeuvre my bike while getting onto the bridge,” said a Vikholi resident.
The two speed breakers, which have locals and commuters concerned
Meanwhile, civic officials stated that the purpose of the traffic calming devices is to control the speed of oncoming traffic from LBS Marg. Aniket Suranje, a site engineer from the BMC’s road department, said, “LBS Marg sees a lot of traffic and the ROB has S-shaped entrances, so these speed breakers exist to prevent commuters from speeding. We have followed all the standards set by the Indian Road Congress while planning this road.”
Residents, meanwhile, said that when they expressed concerns, they received unsatisfactory answers. “These speed breakers have been on my mind for a long time. I have expressed concerns about their placement to workers, but they say they have been following all the rules,” said Gulab Bhaskar Ahire, a resident who owns a small stall off LBS Marg.
The bridge, which links LBS Marg and the Eastern Express Highway, is slated to be inaugurated by the end of the week, but minor work is yet to be done, such as painting and removal of small debris from the road. “We just have to paint a ‘Go Slow’ sign and clean the road once. The rest of the boards have been installed, and all is in place for the inauguration to take place,” said Suranje.
Locals’ concerns
Lakshanand Jay Shetty, who owns a small stall under the ROB, said that during peak hours, the spot gets congested. “They are widening this road [under the bridge], which will help a lot with traffic management because right now, during evening peak hours, traffic jams lead to people waiting here for 20 to 30 minutes. I have heard many passers-by say that the speed breakers will only cause more congestion,” said Shetty.
Gulab Bhaskar Ahire, Vikhroli resident
“The bridge may help decongest traffic, but until we see what happens, I worry that congestion will increase,” said Ahire. Auto drivers such as Rohini Deepak Deshmukh also expressed concerns about the speed breakers. “I don’t think it will be easy to get my vehicle over them,” she said. According to Deshmukh, this could result in the creation of a bottleneck as the road is not very wide.
Locals also complained about noise pollution owing to the traffic build-up. “The honking during the evening gets too intense, even though the traffic never stops. If there is an increase in traffic, what then?” asked Vedika Gaikwad, a resident.
The individuals operating the X account @roadsofmumbai, which had raised the issue, told mid-day that motorists would have to exert more effort than usual while ascending the slope due to the speed breakers. “This flyover starts at a T intersection on LBS Road, so vehicles will have to slow down while turning to get onto the bridge, which could create congestion,” they said.
Pointing out that there are hardly any flyovers or bridges in the city where speed breakers have been installed in such a manner, they stated that motorists could be caught off guard, leading to accidents, and advised the BMC to hire urban planners to sort out the situation.
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