Autorickshaw driver Yogesh Yadav cringes when he is reminded of the chronic traffic jams at the busy Suman Nagar junction where VN Purav Marg and the Eastern Express Highway meet.
Autorickshaw driver Yogesh Yadav cringes when he is reminded of the chronic traffic jams at the busy Suman Nagar junction where VN Purav Marg and the Eastern Express Highway meet.
“The road here is always jammed during rush hours,” says Yadav, who plies his vehicle regularly on the stretch. The traffic eases only after 9pm, he adds.
However, there may be hope for harried motorists like Yadav. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is planning to do away with the bottleneck by commissioning around four additional lanes for southbound traffic at the junction this month, completing the long- pending rail under-bridge (RUB) project.
Although the 500-metre-long Suman Nagar flyover has simplified things for people heading towards Pune and Navi Mumbai, southbound traffic slows down to a snail’s pace here, as the size of the carriageway shrinks under a railway over-bridge (ROB) near Priyadarshani Park.
The MSRDC has demolished embankments under the bridge, which will eventually make available four new lanes for southbound traffic, while the existing lanes could be used by northbound commuters.
“We are trying to complete the work by May 15; however a delay of a few days may occur, but we will try and complete it by May end,” said a senior MSRDC official. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is funding the project.
A police constable posted at the chowk pointed out that the spot was a chronic bottleneck, since Purav Marg and the Eastern Express Highway had six and eight lanes each which narrowed down to around four on the 200-metre stretch, creating a bottleneck. “At times, even ambulances are caught up in the traffic jam,” he added.
On-site engineers said that they had brought girders from the railway workshop at Raipur, which had been kept on the pedestal using a 600-tonne crane. Later, jaw crushers were also used to crush the concrete boxes, which were proposed to be pushed under the railway line.
Earlier, it was proposed to drag two concrete boxes under the railway line, but it failed, since the “boxes sank due to the soft geological strata.” Paver blocks will be installed on the newly created carriageway.
However, police officials stressed the need for a pedestrian over-bridge, as the flow and speed of traffic would increase once the project was completed, making it difficult for the residents of nearby societies and slums to cross the road at the spot.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}