Mumbai Traffic Update: Piyush Goyal inaugurates Akurli Bridge in Kandivali

In a huge sigh of relief to Mumbai motorists using the Western Express Highway (WEH), the Akurli subway widening work has finally come to an end and the barricades placed on the highway have been removed.

After this, Union Minister Piyush Goyal inaugurated the Akurli Bridge. Owing to this, smooth traffic movement was witnessed on Akurli bridge in Kandivali (East) on Wednesday morning, September 11.

वचनपूर्ति!

गणपति बप्पा के आशीर्वाद से, निरंतर निरीक्षण के बाद, आज आकुर्ली ब्रिज के चौड़ीकरण का कार्य पूर्ण होने पर जनता को समर्पित करने का सौभाग्य प्राप्त हुआ।

इस ब्रिज के अतिरिक्त चौड़ा होने से यहां लगने वाले जाम में कमी आएगी और लोगों को सुविधा मिलेगी। साथ ही, इससे संबंधित सभी… pic.twitter.com/FtEzpURU6y

— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) September 10, 2024

The completion of the bridge is likely to ease traffic woes for commuters in the evening peak hour also.

Union Minister Piyush Goyal emphasised that the structure and its timely completion underscores the commitment of the Modi government to expedite infrastructure projects.

Piyush Goyal recalled his promise to finish the bridge within the first 100 days of the new term of the Modi government, to alleviate the city's traffic congestion.

For this, Minister Piyush Goyal monitored the progress of construction last month and continuously interacted with the implementing agencies and traffic police to increase the work time with minimum traffic disruption. With his intervention, the work which was stuck for years was completed within 30 days of the first meeting of BMC on August 14.

It is pertinent to note that the barricades had reduced the north-bound carriageway of the highway to two lanes, instead of four, leading to a bottleneck for vehicles travelling from south Mumbai and Bandra to the western suburbs of Borivali and Dahisar.

To ease the congestion, traffic police would open two additional lanes on the other side during peak traffic hours. This stop-gap solution would lead to traffic pileups on the south-bound carriageway, too, at Kandivali.

Motorists travelling towards Borivali would complain that it took anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the time of day, to cross the 1.5-2km stretch between Malad and Kandivali, with the Samata Nagar Police Station junction being the major issue.