Mumbai: Is this the end of skid games on Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road?

A board on the bike ban on GMLR. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Two-wheelers have been permanently banned on the newly inaugurated Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road. The Traffic department decided to restrain bikers on the elevated road after its experimental month-long ban on bikes worked well and the bridge didn't see any mishap, said officials. GMLR will be the fourth flyover in the city after JJ, Eastern Freeway and BKC Connector where bikes are not allowed. Apart from two-wheelers, GMLR will also be out of bounds for heavy vehicles, buses and cycles, says a recent notification by the Traffic department.

GMLR, which was ready after a three-year delay, had run into a controversy during its inauguration on August 1 when Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray pointed to its uneven surface and instructed the civic chief to get it fixed. Within 48 hours, a pick-up van turned turtle on the bridge and it was followed by a number of accidents and skidding. On August 30, a bike skidded on the overpass, leaving a 34-year-old man dead.

The spate of accidents had led the BMC to close the bridge for a week for road milling and setting up more rumblers, CCTV cameras, and signage of speed limit. The flyover was reopened on September 2 with a ban on bikes till October 1. "The bike ban and other measures taken by the BMC have really worked. GMLR is safe now. In fact, it has improved so much that we are now able to give passes for VIP movement on the flyover," said inspector Baliram Dhas, in-charge of the Mankhurd Traffic division.

"We have taken this decision after observing the month-long ban and behavioural pattern of motorists. We are requesting bikers to avoid this bridge else it will attract penalty of entering into ‘No entry'," said DCP Vinayak Dhakane, Eastern Suburb Traffic.

The traffic notification

>> There shall be ‘No Entry' for two-wheelers, heavy motor vehicles, goods vehicles, buses, handcarts, bullock carts, tonga, cyclists and pedestrians for 24 hrs.on Ghatkopar-Mankhurd Link Road Flyover on both sides
>> Parking or halting of all types of motor vehicles shall be prohibited for 24 hours.
>> There shall be no U-turn through the gaps in both directions
>>The speed limit for motor vehicles shall be ranging from 30kmph to 50kmph, as per signboards displayed on the Ghatkopar-Mankhrud Link Road