Mumbai: In an effort to streamline traffic on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) decided to implement Highway Traffic Management System (HTMS). It includes executing the speed detection system and lane discipline violation detection system which will help enforce speed limits and impose fine on the violators.
“We will install 430 advanced CCTV cameras by the end of this month as part of HTMS. The system will help us in spot and average speed detection, lane discipline violation detection, weigh-in-motion systems for commercial vehicles, automatic vehicle counters and classifiers at toll booths. With this system, it will be possible to take direct action against reckless drivers who create chaos on the expressway leading to traffic disruptions and accidents,” a senior MSRDC official said.
“The work to install cameras has been completed and currently testing of the same is on. Once testing is done by the end of June, we will be in a position to make the system operational,” the official added.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway has many turns and twists. One passes through the ghat, waterfalls, and other scenic spots. As a result, the travellers tend to stop their vehicles on the roadside to enjoy the scenic beauty. As a result, they tend to park vehicles in a haphazard manner leading to accidents.
To get over this, MSRDC has reportedly proposed to provide facilities for stopping vehicles at certain distances along the expressway. Two special halts are proposed in the ghat for heavy vehicles where facilities for the vehicles to take a break will be provided. At present, after climbing the ghat, heavy vehicles tend to stop on the highway often resulting in collision with the vehicles following them. These special stops will be created keeping in view the rise in such incidences.
Meanwhile, the MSRDC will be making operational the Missing Link project on the expressway by May, 2025. The project aims to bridge critical gaps in the existing road network between the two cities and ensure seamless connectivity.
The Mumbai-Pune Expressway and NH-4 meet near Khalapur Toll Plaza and separate near Khandala exit. The section from Adoshi Tunnel to Khandala exit is a six-lane road but the traffic of 10-lane road (six lanes of YCEW and four lanes of NH-4) ply in this section. Heavy amounts of traffic and landslides causes congestion in this stretch. Due to decrease in speed and increase in time of travel in this section and in order to save time, vehicles move at a faster speed on the rest of the expressway which has resulted in an increase in the number of accidents. Feasibility study carried out for the expressway suggested an alternate route for the entire ghat section.
