33,900 barricades removed from metro sites to ease traffic congestion

Even after the completion of works the barricades continued to block the roads. According to officials from MMRDA, removing barricades has resulted in clearing 42 km each on both sides of the roads, thus opening up more space for vehicular traffic

Mumbai: The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has taken a significant step to ease traffic congestion on city roads by removing more than 33,900 barricades spread across 84.80 km from the project sites.

Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, “We have implemented measures to address road-related issues and ensure smooth traffic flow. Our team has successfully removed over 33,000 barricades within a month and will continue to review the project and barricades every 15 days.” (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

Over the past few months, MMRDA had placed barricades across 152.8 km-stretch for construction of metro lines of 2B, 4, 4A, 5, 6, 7A, and 9. Even after the completion of works the barricades continued to block the roads. According to officials from MMRDA, removing barricades has resulted in clearing 42 km each on both sides of the roads, thus opening up more space for vehicular traffic.

Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA said, “We have implemented measures to address road-related issues and ensure smooth traffic flow. Our team has successfully removed over 33,000 barricades within a month and will continue to review the project and barricades every 15 days.”

Currently, MMRDA is implementing 337-kms of metro rail network throughout the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. For this, the MMRDA has installed a total of 152.86 kms of barricades across different metro lines. As a result, wider roads of over 8 kms in length are now available at specific locations, ensuring smoother traffic flow. This restructuring involved modifying a total of 3,352 barricades.

“We have successfully removed approximately 60% of these barricades. This strategic step has cleared one lane on both sides of the project for traffic, thereby minimising disturbance to citizens,” said a MMRDA official.

Barricades have been removed from locations such as Eastern Express Highway, Western Express Highway, Bandra Kurla Complex, S. V. Road, V.N. Purav Marg in Chembur Naka, New Link Road, Gulmohar Road, MG Road, Ghodbunder Road, Kapur Bawdi, Balkum, Dahisar, Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane, Teen Hat Naka, JVLR, Infinity Mall, Powai, Kanjurmarg and Mankhurd along the under-construction Metro lines.

MMRDA authorities said they are also addressing road-related issues such as filling potholes, installing motor pumps in water logging-prone areas for efficient drainage and establishing a 24x7 emergency control room for prompt resolution of citizen complaints.