Expect more traffic snarls on the western express highway

A section of the road will be barricaded for Metro rail work

MUMBAI: Vehicles plying between Chakala and Saki Naka and on JP Road between Versova and SV Road will not be able to use a nine-metre passage in the middle of the road i.e four-and-half metres on either side of the divider from March 1.

The reason being Mumbai Metro One Private Ltd (MMOPL), the Reliance Energy-led consortium constructing the first 13 km of Metro rail corridor between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar, will barricade the area.

“We will start putting barricades on the 3.5 km section between Chakala and Saki Naka for the movement of our machinery and material for construction purpose,” MMOPL director KP Maheshwari said.

Maheshwari said the barricading would start at Chakala from the Western Express Highway end and will go up to Saki Naka in a phased manner. After this section, barricading will be done on a 3-km section on JP Road between Versova and SV Road. He said the deadline for completion of the project was 30 months, with most of the work requiring construction of pillars and fitting of railway tracks atop.

When asked whether the land at DN Nagar in Versova, meant for construction of a car shed, had been given by MMRDA to MMOPL, Maheshwari said that would happen, but this was not a hindrance as the place for casting yard was being readied.