Poor quality asphalt to blame for WEH motorists' bumpy ride?

The probable culprit behind the great deal of inconvenience caused to lakhs of motorists driving on the Western Express Highway is poor quality of asphalt used before the monsoon.

At Kherwadi and Kandivli, the asphalt put up in May has already come out, resulting in undulated roads. This has subsequently led to motorists taking longer than usual to clear that stretch, having a domino effect in way of bumper-to-bumper traffic, especially during rush hours.

"I prefer to drive below the Kalanagar and Kherwadi flyovers instead of on them due to the bad patch between these two bridges. The lanes towards the service road, where stone mastic asphalt was laid years ago, is still intact and good for motorists, unlike the one towards the median and between the flyovers," said Manoj Soni, a Goregaon resident.

When a public works department official (PWD) was asked about what led to the road deteriorating, the official was unable to explain. He, however, refuted the claim that sub-standard material was used to relay stretches on the highway.

Motorists believe that only the patches that were reworked a month ago have problems, while the rest of the Western Express Highway is still fine.

"By Thursday morning, we will be removing all the loose gravel in Bandra East and then in Kandivli. We will wait for a dry spell during this monsoon to fix the problem," said the PWD official.

Every year, the PWD repairs and re-lays road surfaces just before the onset of monsoon. However, this year, it has failed to ensure a trouble-free ride for motorists.