Mumbai: Your rides on WEH could be free of traffic signals by April

Come April, you can cruise along the Western Express highway (WEH) without meeting traffic signals, thanks to the completion of the north-bound arm of the Khewadi flyover.

Come April, you can cruise along the Western Express highway (WEH) without meeting traffic signals, thanks to the completion of the north-bound arm of the Khewadi flyover. The stretch is expected to be ready by the middle of April.

Completion of the Kherwadi flyover is expected to make travel on the WEH smoother and faster. It will allow motorists to use 13 flyovers at a stretch, thereby skipping all traffic signals that they now encounter between the Bandra Worli sea link and Dahisar checknaka.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has already completed the south-bound arm of the flyover, which was thrown open to traffic in June last year.

While traffic congestion at Kherwadi junction has been reduced significantly after the southbound stretch was thrown open to traffic, one can see vehicles lined up in long queues during evening peak hours, with a heavy flow of north-bound traffic. The completion of the north-bound stretch is expected to reduce congestion at Kherwadi junction.

MMRDA chief engineer Sharad Sabnis said, “As per our calculations, 80% of construction work is over. The last two girders will be installed by the end of this month. So we expect the flyover to be ready for traffic by mid-April.” The cost of the flyover, which is being constructed by J Kumar, is pegged at Rs22 crore.

The Kherwadi junction is has earned the notoriety of being the most congestion-prone traffic junction in the city. In order to reduce congestion during evening peak hours, traffic police are using one lane of the south-bound side for traffic headed for the north.