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Narrow bridges to bus halts, Malad residents deal with the worst

The situation worsens at the six-lane highway when the two overhead bridges at Pushpa Park and Pathanwadi narrow down further to three lanes.

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Traffic jam during peak hours at the Malad stretch of Western Urban Road
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Residents of Malad have long been bearing the brunt of the rampant traffic snarls in the area. Kaustabh Labde, a resident of Malad, makes it a point to travel by his two-wheeler. "Even then it takes me nearly 15 minutes more than usual to cross the 500-metre Malad stretch of the Western Urban Road, when south-bound," said Labde, while recounting issues that people who travel frequently on the stretch face.

By car, he says, the wait is even longer. It takes anywhere between half an hour to 45 minutes. According to Labde, the prime reasons behind this major choke-a-block, are the narrow overhead bridges at Pushpa Park and Pathanwadi, the outstation buses that halt on the highway during peak hours, and the ongoing metro work.

The situation worsens at the six-lane highway when the two overhead bridges at Pushpa Park and Pathanwadi narrow down further to three lanes. "Since the Pushpa Park overhead bridge has only three lanes, traffic starts building near that. Once you have crossed it, the same happens at Pathanwadi overhead bridge," said Labde.

Sameer Khapre, who travels from Bhayander to Andheri has similar views to share. "Sometimes the traffic crawls so slow that we can't move beyond a speed of 10 km/hr. In the evening, a lane for north-bound traffic open up to south-bound vehicles, slumping the speed further," said Khapre.

While the south-bound vehicles see crawling traffic between 8am to 10am, the north-bound commuters face it 6pm onward. "It is largely due to the metro work that has started," said Mohit Sheth, who takes this route to travel. The north-bound commuters have one lane less at disposal due to the metro construction work.

Close to Pathanwadi bridge are outstation buses that have turned the area into their halt. "Although they start halting 6am onward, the pinch is felt after 8am, when the traffic starts picking up," said Rakesh Khatri, an autorickshaw driver. Some commuters said that the auto queues have also added to the traffic woes.

Analysis

Traffic woes on the Malad stretch of the Western Urban Road is an example of bad planning. Overhead bridges meant for commuters to skip signals should have been wider. There should also be enough traffic personnel to ensure that outstation buses are made to halt away from the highway.

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