Bandra's Lucky Junction - named after the old, popular Lucky restaurant at the corner – continues to be unlucky for motorists. Increasing pedestrian movement, frequent diversions and gross negligence on the part of traffic authorities are some of the prominent causes why the Lucky Junction never has a smooth traffic day.
When The FPJ visited the spot, it was found in a state of commotion with several construction work underway on two sides, pedestrians randomly crossing roads while the green signal was still on, motorists coming from all directions, vehicles honking like there's no tomorrow. Amid all these, there were hawkers, vendors and stalls doing their businesses on the road edges.
Lack of traffic cops
On Friday evening, the newspaper didn't find a single traffic cop, while the number of vehicles plying in the area increased as peak hours neared. According to locals, traffic woes aggravate between Friday and Sunday as people throng to nearby tourist spots, including the Chimbai Village, Hill Road, Linking Road, Mehboob Studio, Mahim Church, etc, during weekends.
Traffic situation worse on weekdays
During weekdays, the situation gets even more pathetic with infinite vehicles pass via the Lucky Junction which is located at the SV Road – known as one of the arterial roads. Besides providing seamless connectivity between Bandra and other western suburbs, the SV Road is a preferred path for motorists proceeding to the Western Express Highway.
The traffic diversions – meant for smooth vehicular movement amid construction works (managed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority and BMC) – adds to the chaos. For example, traffic towards the Chimbai Village is diverted to the Carter Road. However, the road is narrow and clearance of traffic, going towards Khar Danda and Linking Road, takes more time than usual.
Uncontrolled pedestrian movement
Another major problem is the uncontrolled pedestrian movement. A local traffic cop said that it's possible to deal with motorists but not pedestrians. “People walking towards the Bandra station have no option but to take the station road as no skywalk exists. While managing the vehicles, most of the time is spent asking people to walk at the sides. If there was a subway or skywalk, this problem could have been mitigated,” he said.
Talking to The FPJ, local MLA Ashish Shelar said, “The SV Road, including the Lucky Junction stretch, will be widened. Also, we are in talks with the MMRDA for a proposed road
which will run parallel to the SV Road. The road, which is also a part of the development plan, can be used by motorists going from the Bandra station to the highway.” The legislator appealed to the people to switch to public transport for reducing traffic.
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