‘Akurli Bridge A Ganeshotsav Gift’: Mumbaiites Set For Smooth Traffic Flow On Western Express Highway

Sam Mistry, who stayed in Malad for over 30 years, used to take more than 15-20 minutes to cross the 1.5-kilometre stretch around Akurli bridge. “This had become a perennial problem for commuters. If we consider northbound traffic from Kurar Metro station towards Oberoi Mall, vehicles used to move slowly around Growel’s Mall to a point where we would have to constantly hit the brakes and wait,” said Mistry.

On Tuesday night, local MP and Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the Akurli underpass, which will now lead to seamless flow of vehicles along the stretch. This will offer huge respite to residents of northern suburbs such as Borivali, Kandivali, Malad and Dahisar.

“The intervention ensured that the work, which was languishing for years, was completed within 30 days of his first meeting at the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on August 14. This is a Ganesh Chaturthi gift for not just North Mumbai, but the entire city,” said a spokesperson from Goyal’s team.

Akurli stretch is one of the most important roads linking Kandivali railway station to Western Express Highway and beyond the highway to the Lokhandwala Complex. The project had been going on for several years. It was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.

How The Ganeshotsav Gift For Mumbai Motorists Got Ready In Time

A major issue faced by the implementing authority was in shifting of the gas pipeline/power supply cable/water supply line (300mm diameter) which took around nine months.

Another issue was to secure traffic permission on the busy highway, wherein work was allowed only for six hours at night.

While major chunk of the work has now been completed, what remains is the completion of the work of the subway. “Traffic issues around Growel’s Mall are now a thing of the past. The bridge was inaugurated by MP Goyal late last night. That will ease the traffic movement towards Borivali. Earlier, three-lane traffic movement was affected because the work, but it has now been completed,” said Anil Kumbhare, Jt CP Traffic.

Kumbhare added that as the subway needs extension, work would be carried out in the night hours, wherein subway movement will be restricted between 10 pm and 8 am each night for another fortnight, until the work is completed.

Local residents are now looking at an uninterrupted flow of traffic on the Western Express Highway and towards entry points of Kandivali.

“Stuck vehicles on the southbound (8 am to 11 am) and northbound (5.30 pm to 8 pm) stretches used to cause traffic snarls till Andheri. A problem area was the Growel’s Mall junction, a densely populated patch, which used to see movement of traffic from Lokhandwala and connect to Thakurli village, where there used to be another block. With the bridge inaugurated, we are hoping that the situation will improve,” said Yogesh Shah, a resident of Borivali, who travels to BKC every day.