When will PWD clear this traffic mess?

Traffic police and commuters are facing a nightmare of a traffic jam every day at the the Sion flyover. The jam occurs every morning and evening, during peak hours at the northern end of the Sion flyover that leads to Priyadarshini junction on the Eastern Express Highway. This is because the flyover has a single-lane entry, with bollards separating the lanes.

A hard day's work: A policeman regulates traffic at the north-end entry of the Sion flyover. The traffic police has written to the PWD to take action, but is yet to receive a response. Pics/Datta Kumbhar

"The thought of passing through that road upsets me as using the flyover consumes a lot of time," said Vikram Sahani, a motorist who frequently uses the flyover.

Bottleneck: Motorists complain of the traffic snarls at the entry of the Sion flyover. They say that increasing the lanes would improve the situation.

A traffic policeman is always stationed at the entry of the flyover to regulate traffic, but it leads to a long line of cars every morning, with drivers honking and cutting lanes to reach their destinations faster. The flyover is maintained by the Public Works Department (PWD).

Sitting on complaints
Fed up with the traffic snarls, the traffic police department has written letters to the Public Works Department (PWD) stating that a permanent solution to this problem should be sought at the earliest so as to take care of the traffic issues.

The traffic officials have suggested that the north end be provided with sturdier barricades. A senior traffic cop said, "We have written numerous letters to the PWD asking them to provide sturdier barricades at the north end of the Sion flyover, but nothing has been done yet. There are long queues of vehicles and many cut across lanes.

"The situation is dangerous for our cops posted there, as vehicles come at great speeds, and it becomes difficult to manage the traffic," said V Pawar, assistant commissioner of police (East), Mumbai Traffic Police.

But there has been no response from the PWD to the letter. There were plans to increase the number of lanes to six, but the decision has been delayed as the traffic department feels that the construction work of the three new lanes will only worsen the traffic congestion.

PWD speaks
D N Salunkhe, superintendent engineer, PWD clarified, "We were busy concentrating on potholes this monsoon. Once the monsoon is over, we will make the necessary changes at the north end of the flyover within two months, so that traffic jams don't take place."

The tired people

Kaushik Panchal, Resident of Chembur

Travelling by this flyover takes a toll on an individual as there's heavy traffic both in the morning, as well as in the evening. The concerned authorities should increase the lanes from three to six so that it becomes convenient both for commuters as well as the traffic police.

Tahir Shaikh, Resident of Kandivli

I have been using the flyover for many years, but the problem has increased considerably over the past few months. Even bikers find it difficult to commute on the flyover. The authorities should do something so that motorists get some relief.u00a0