Mumbaikars began a fresh week with the same old traffic choke-ups on Monday! Several routes faced traffic congestion due to heavy pile-ups, bad roads, and illegal parking.
Congestion was reported on the Western Express Highway (WEH) during the first half of the day due to backlog traffic, especially on the Santacruz, Andheri, and Jogeshwari stretch. “The route before the Airport was jammed in the morning with over an hour of wait time in the traffic. Vehicles were moving at a very slow pace. If people on their way to the airport were stuck in the traffic, they would most certainly have missed their flight,” said Vasudha Rajan, a commuter.
Similar traffic congestion was reported near Goregaon at the WEH. The Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) tweeted, “Traffic movement is slow Southbound at Nesco Western Expressway.” The situation was no better at the Vakola Junction in Santacruz, the flyover connecting WEH.
Traffic officials cite backlog traffic as the reason for congestion. However, commuters blame illegal parking. “There are so many vehicles at the side of the road, or under the flyover/bridge which is not attended to by the authorities. These vehicles take up the space meant for traffic movement,” said another Rajeev Tekwade. “I keep clicking pictures and sharing them on social media sites but nothing much is being done,” he added.
A car broke down at the Mankhurd Railway Bridge holding up the southbound vehicular movement, said MTP. “The car was cleared as soon as we were alerted and the traffic started moving at a slow pace,” said a division authority. However, as per the local traffic cops, the traffic that was held-up after the car broke down, took the next two hours to return to normalcy.
At the Lokhandwala Market, during the evening hours, commuters complained about roads being blocked due to an illegally parked car. “The car parked on the road blocked traffic for half an hour," said a Twitter user.
At Vallabh Baugh lane in Pant Nagar, Ghatkopar East, a case of double parking was reported which affected traffic movement in the area.
Another major traffic disruption was reported at New Link Road and RTO Road and near Wadia High School to Amboli and MIDC in the Andheri area. The stretch on Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (southbound) too faced a major traffic snarl. Byculla, Hindmata, Haji Ali, and Malad were some of the other areas where traffic movement was reported to move at a snail’s pace.
