Eastern Freeway poised for traffic snarls due to repairs

Motorists travelling on the Eastern Freeway, which connects the eastern suburbs to South Mumbai, will soon have to brace for repair work that will be undertaken by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on the freeway, with the civic body approaching the Mumbai Traffic Police seeking a no-objection certificate (NOC) to carry out the repairs.

According to sources, the cement-concrete panels on the flyover have been damaged, creating potholes on the freeway. The bridges department of the BMC has thus approached the Mumbai Traffic Police for permission to carry out the work on an immediate basis.

“We have asked the BMC to submit a lane-wise plan to carry out the work. As soon as we get the plan, we will grant the NOC. The BMC is expected to submit the work plan to the Mumbai Traffic Department on Wednesday as the corporation has to carry out the work on an urgent basis,” a senior police officer told DNA. “The Bombay High Court recently directed the BMC to repair the cement-concrete road,” the officer added.

Anik-Panjarpol Link Road, popularly called Eastern Freeway (in pic), connects P D’Mello Road in South Mumbai to Eastern Express Highway at Ghatkopar. Inaugurated in June 2013, it was constructed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority and was handed over to the BMC for maintenance.

According to sources, the repair work will be carried out in a lane-wise manner, and the repairs on each lane may take up to 40 days. The freeway has a total of eight lanes (four lanes each towards Chhatrapati Shaviji Terminus and Ghatkopar). There is a heavy flow of vehicles throughout the day on the Eastern Freeway, and its P D’Mello Road end has perennial traffic snarls.