Expect traffic jams on highway at Sion from Monday as link road work begins

MUMBAI: Your traffic woes on the eastern express highway at Sion are set to grow from next week, with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)

MUMBAI: Your traffic woes on the eastern express highway at Sion are set to grow from next week, with the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) set to barricade four lanes — two on each side of the highway — near the Somaiya football ground for construction of the Chunabhatti- BKC link road. According to officials, barricading will be done on a 300-400 metre stretch of the highway, to construct ramps for the 1.6-km elevated link road. for traffic congestion on the Eastern Express Highway near Sion from next week.

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The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA)will barricade four lanes of the highway near Somaiya football ground to build the Chunabhatti-BKC link road from Monday.

Construction of the link road from Bandra-Kurla Complex began earlier this year.

According to officials, about a 300-400m stretch of the highway will be barricaded to construct ramps for the 1.6km elevated link road.

Since the stretch already faces one of the worst traffic congestions in the city in the morning rush hours because of the bottleneck under Sion flyover, the new construction activities can further add to the inconvenience that commuters face daily.

Prakash Mamdapure, engineer-in-chief of MMRDA, said, “Two lanes each from both sides of the highway will be blocked for the traffic. There will be two ramps for the link road in both directions, built in the middle of the highway.”

Mamdapure said that construction work was going to start from Monday, and there could be a little delay if it rains this week.

As traffic snarls are expected, MMRDA officials have decided to divert the traffic to the service roads. “We have decided to use service roads on both sides for the highway traffic. That makes four additional lanes available, which can help us in ensuring smooth traffic flow,” Mamdapure said.

Once the link road is constructed, commuters from the eastern suburbs, Thane and Navi Mumbai will be able to reach BKC in just five minutes. Now, it takes about 20 to 45 minutes in the peak morning hours .