THANE: Three arterial flyovers on the
Ghodbunder road
at Patlipada, Manpada and
Majiwada junction
could be temporarily shut for
traffic movement
to undertake
repair works
in the coming days, officials informed.
Accordingly, commuters using the Ghodbunder road to travel to and from Western Mumbai suburbs, Gujarat and Navi Mumbai, Nashik, Pune along with Thane motorists are likely to face
inconvenience
as all out-bound traffic including
heavy freight vehicles
from each of these four-lane bridges will have to be diverted on the city-bound lanes of the highway adding to the congestion.
The GB road has four operational flyovers bypassing Waghbil, Patlipada, Manpada and Kapurbawdi-Majiwada junctions of which repairs on the first was executed earlier.
As per the PWD plans, around 484m of the
Patlipada flyover
, 380m of the
Manpada flyover
and 250m stretch of the Kapurbawdi flyover now needs repairs, mainly laying a fresh mastic layer to ensure smooth ride in the rains. An Rs 5.91 cr tender is already okayed, officials said.
What makes the situation critical is that the GB road is the only alternative connecting Eastern and Western Express highways beyond Thane and is largely popular among domestic motorists, transport buses and freight vehicles travelling to and from JNPT. "With few highway lanes on the Borivli-bound side already blocked for metro work, the drive is likely to be no less than a nightmare," fear regular commuters.
The PWD said the works are necessary to avoid damage to the road surface of the decade-old structures during rains.
"The general elections and ongoing works at Gaimukh ghat delayed our schedule. We will need an eight day block to complete the work. Plans are being drawn to minimise inconvenience to commuters and execute work only at night. We may also consider repairing Patlipada flyover on priority. A schedule will be finalised after interacting with the Thane traffic police,” said a PWD official requesting anonymity.
The Thane traffic police said they are yet to receive any communication seeking blocks and will approve them only after ensuring minimal inconvenience to motorists.
Former deputy mayor and UBT Thane functionary Naresh Manera questioned the authorities’ failure to schedule such crucial works. “The repairs could have been scheduled in a week-long single block instead of executing it independently. Heavy vehicles could have been restricted till then. This is mismanagement and will inconvenience outbound traffic and city motorists also,” he complained.
Akshay More, a commuter from Thane, feared the travel time between Thane and Borivali may stretch beyond two to three hours considering the magnitude of the works and the rains.
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