Mumbai: Western Express Highway-Kandivali link to get wider

A week after the inauguration of Bandongri Metro Station in Kandivali (E) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, work on an important link to Kandivali railway station connecting the metro station was inaugurated. On September 15, Bhoomi Pujan for widening the underpass connecting the Western Express Highway and Kandivali station road took place. This is an important work keeping in mind the heavy traffic congestion this stretch sees everyday. Also, the locals have been demanding it to be widened.

The local residents have been persistingly demanding that the government authorities take stock of the situation on this stretch which needed attention. Therefore, MP Gopal Shetty and local MLA Atul Bhatkalkar announced this work to begin that was long overdue before the code of conduct kicks in the state. Apparently, the code of conduct is expected to kick in on Monday

The work of widening and construction of this Akurli vehicular subway shall be carried out by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA). They are also constructing the Andheri (E) - Dahisar (E) Metro 7 on which Bandongri metro station has been built. This vehicular subway is between two metro stations of Bandongri and Mahindra.

Sources said that it is being done at a cost of Rs 26.83 crore and is likely to be completed within 36 months. "The width of this subway will be widened from 16 meters to 33 meters. This subway has been a bottleneck and once this gets widened it shall help motorists and those getting down at the metro stations," said MLA Atul Bhatkalkar.

The local residents have been complaining about the choked roads below this underpass. "During peak hours there is heavy traffic on this stretch due to the bottleneck below this subway. It takes 15-20 minutes only to cross this portion," said S Prabhu, local resident from Kandivali.

In fact the local residents also blame the share auto-rickshaw drivers behind the traffic jams in the region as they do not follow traffic rules. To make matters worse for the residents, even the roads leading to the Akurli subway are pothole-ridden plus there is a shopping mall there which makes commute difficult.