Mumbai’s civic body has proposed the creation of a dedicated highway cell to address the severe congestion on the Western Express Highway (WEH) and the Eastern Express Highway (EEH). The cell will function under the roads department and will be led by the chief engineer (roads), with the goal of providing long-term solutions for the management and development of these important corridors.
A civic official explained the need for this move. “Despite multiple attempts at decongesting the WEH and EEH, both highways continue to suffer from severe traffic snarls. While the BMC took over maintenance of these highways from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority three years ago, the interventions to date have largely been fragmented and reactive.”
The new cell will focus on a comprehensive traffic and infrastructure strategy, dealing with everything from service roads and bridges to road conditions and capacity. However, administrative challenges remain. Six key bridges on WEH, including Vakola, JVLR, Aarey, Magathane, National Park and Dindoshi, are still under the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, which collects toll at these points. On EEH, the Chheda Nagar, Kurla, Vikhroli junction and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link flyovers also remain with MSRDC. “We don’t think MSRDC will hand over these bridges to us, as it will not be able to collect toll if it does,” said the official.
Another major issue is the inconsistency in road width. While some sections like Khar and Bandra have six-lane stretches, others in Andheri, Jogeshwari and Kandivali remain limited to three or four lanes. These variations, created over time by multiple agencies such as MMRDA and the Public Works Department, have resulted in chronic bottlenecks.
The highway cell will be responsible for addressing these discrepancies, which may involve road widening and possible land acquisition. “The role of the cell is mainly to look into maintenance and see if new structures are required or land needs to be acquired to widen roads for seamless movement of traffic,” the official added.
The cell will also have its own dedicated team, including executive engineers, assistant engineers and sub-engineers, focusing exclusively on highway-related projects. The proposal is now set to be reviewed by BMC commissioner and administrator Bhushan Gagrani for approval.
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