Mumbai: There has been no end to traffic woes faced by Mumbaikars since the onset of monsoon, even though it has been delayed. Wednesday started with extreme traffic congestion on key city routes – from Western Express Highway (WEH) to Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) to Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR). Slow traffic choked most of these junctions during peak hours.
It started with the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) junction on SCLR where a sudden VIP movement caused chaos. A prime corporate hub, BKC has maximum traffic between 7am and 11am and between 5pm and 10pm. The problem on Wednesday was exacerbated by the absence of traffic cops. A similar situation was experienced from the trade centre to MTNL road in BKC.
Western suburbs disruptions
In the western suburbs, Mithichowky junction’s traffic woes further owing to poor road condition slowed down the movement on the Malad subway route, and further up to Andheri and Bandra Lucky junction. The waiting time at Mith Chowki signal, near Marve Road, was reported to be nearly two hours.
The Khar subway, too, faced a similar situation, with school buses and ambulances reportedly stuck for more than an hour. At JVLR, too, motorists complained about waiting for hours due to potholes and a bus breaking down at Mithi River bridge.
A motorist tweeted, “Newly developed potholes on JVLR near L&T Powai are now leading to traffic jams stretching beyond SEEPZ junction on JVLR every day. Can this please be attended to in the public interest.” Another motorist, Pawan Shukla, said, “Traffic at JVLR has gone for a toss since the monsoon began and the potholes started forming. It’s been horrible... It takes 60 to 80 minutes for a stretch that should not take even five minutes!”
Other traffic congestions were reported at Kapadia Nagar in Kurla, Dahisar Bridge due to metro work, Veer Savarkar flyover in Goregaon East due to a truck breakdown, Lilavati Hospital road to Bandra reclamation due to backlog traffic, Bandra lucky junction signal, and some areas at Eastern Express Highway and Eastern Freeway.
New traffic diversions for Dadar
The Mumbai Traffic Police on Wednesday announced a new traffic diversion in the Dadar area ahead of President Droupadi Murmu’s visit to Shri Siddhivinayak Temple today (Thursday).
According to the notification, the S.K Bole Road will be closed for all types of vehicles, starting from the Portuguese Church junction to the Shri Siddhivinayak Temple junction. Motorists are instructed to use the alternate route which is via Gokhale Road, Jakhadevi junction (right turn), Shankar Ghanekar Road, Sant Rohidas Chowk – backside entry gate of the Shri Siddhivinayak Mandir, Leningrad Chowk and Appasaheb Marathe Road/ Sayani Road to reach their desired destination.
The Kashinath Dhuru Road too will be closed to all types of vehicles starting from Kashinath Dhuru Junction to Aagar Bazar Circle. The alternate route is to proceed from Kashinath Dhuru Junction, via MTNL Road (left turn), Govind Patvardhan Road (right turn) and Gokhale Road to reach Portuguese Church Junction. One more alternative is Babrekar Road to reach Gokhale Road.
