Infra projects mushrooming, but do they really cater to all?

A slew of transport infrastructure projects that could have earned the gratitude of wearied Mumbai commuters have ended up serving only a minuscule population that lives and works within direct reach. Others are forced to cast envious glances at flyovers, bridges and AC coaches that for them remain the proverbial pie in the sky.
Recent travel infrastructure, led by two new Metro lines 2A and 7, Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR), Eastern Freeway, Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) should have smoothened the Mumbaikar's commute like free-flowing sand.Except that the narrow neck of the hourglass forces a halting, frustrating exit to the other side.
A Sunday Mirror audit shows that poor connectivity, lack of last-mile transport, inadequate frequency and improper dispersal systems have ensured that Mumbaikars are unable to utilise these white elephants that were built using thousands of crores of public money.
The plans on the drawing board had painted a rosy picture, though, claiming that lakhs of private vehicles and passengers would switch to these new modes of transport, and reduce traffic jams on Western Express Highway and New Link Road or alleviate the crush-hour commute aboard local trains. However, reality has emerged as a dark shadow.
In addition, the ill-timed simultaneous construction of the coastal road, new Metro lines, Gokhale Road flyover, all serve to negate any gains that could have resulted from the newly opened projects.
Metro 2A and 7
Ridership on the Metro 7 and 2A (Gundavli-Dahisar-Andheri West) is 2.5 lakh per day but could have multiplied by leaps and bounds had the authorities not disregarded interconnectivity with local suburban rail networks and ensured last-mile transportation. Phase 1 was inaugurated on April 2, 2022, and Phase 2 was flagged off by PM Narendra Modi on January 19, 2023. Both lines are crowded during morning and evening peak hour but not through the rest of the day. People whose offices are located near Western Express Highway (WEH) and New Link Road use the Metro frequently but travellers to Bandra, Dadar or South Mumbai see no utility since neither line is seamlessly connected with WR or CR.
Activist Mohammed Afzal said crucial last-mile connectivity is absent. “I have been demanding share auto services from Dahisar East and Anand Nagar Metro stations to Kashimira, Mira Bhayandar and Majiwada Thane in vain,” he said. He sought BEST bus stops below Metro stations.
Transport expert Vivek Pai said, “People living next to the WEH or Link Road are happy but not everyone is able to reach Metro stations in a swift and cost-effective way. Feasibility reports by consultants to MMRCL had predicted three times the present ridership. Metro was projected to reduce 15% traffic on arterial roads but this has not happened either.” Share auto stands outside Metro are “inordinately delayed” despite RTO having issued orders for 28 stands last year, said union leader Thampy Kurien.
Last year, traffic police conducted a survey to assess the impact of Metro 2A and 7 on road traffic. They found that these had eased vehicular congestion in the range of mere 5-10% in some parts of the western suburbs and up to 20% in others.
Commuters say Metro best serves offices, schools and malls near WEH and New Link Road. “But getting an autorickshaw after alighting at Gundavli is a nightmare,” said Vile Parle resident Sameera Phadke who commutes by auto between her residence and station every day. A Malad resident said Mith Chowky station was a 10-minute walk from her house. However, the busy New Link Road makes dodging cars and walking very stressful.
Monorail
The monorail is a glaring example of flawed implementation, given its poor frequency of 15 minutes. The line with 118 daily services sees merely 13,000 riders per day even though its stations are located close to Mahalakshmi on WR, Currey Road on CR and Wadala and Chembur on Harbour line. Dadar resident Ajay Ranade said, “Who is going to wait for so much time when one can reach Chembur from Chitra Cinema in less than 20 minutes by bus?” Frequency can increase to 10 or even 5 minutes once all additional 10 rakes are supplied by Medha Servo Drives Ltd and SMH Rail Malaysia this year.
Santacruz Chembur Link Road
SCLR between Santacruz and Amar Mahal in Chembur was opened in 2011. MMRDA later realised that it needs to build a flyover from LBS Road in Kurla till WEH at Vakola. The work on SCLR extension began in 2016 and MMRDA was able to open some arms of this extension last year. Work on Vakola extension will be completed before monsoon.
Kurla resident Mohammed Parmar said there is a difficult bottleneck at the mouth of Hans Bhugra Marg-WEH junction. Also, traffic snarls unfold on SCLR during morning peak hour for almost 30 minutes because of Metro 2B work at Kurla.
“One ends up in a massive traffic snarl at the beginning of the first flyover near LBS Marg in Kurla and at the end of second SCLR flyover towards Vakola/ WEH. In the return direction, during evening peak hours, the SCLR flyover at Amar Mahal junction is choc-a-bloc with traffic,” said Vinod Karmakar, a car owner.
Transport expert Rishi Aggarwal said, “There isn’t enough capacity at the Ghatkopar-end junction to allow smooth flow during peak hour. Lanes will have to be reduced along the entire course along with a speed limit of 10 kmph when approaching the junction during peak hours. If lanes are reduced, then speed will automatically get regulated.” He said that at SCLR, in the new elevated section, when the vehicles join at the Kalina fire brigade-end, they can breeze through for more than a km at 50 kmph. “In this section, variable speed needs to be introduced based on conditions ahead.”
Public policy (transportation) analyst Paresh Rawal said, “It is the bottlenecks caused by lanes merging that results in jams. We need to create a barricade throughout and ensure lane driving. Lane driving might increase the time a bit but overall will ensure smooth movement and free flow.”
In June 2022, the Mumbai Mobility Forum had petitioned the state government for a dedicated bus corridor on SCLR during peak hours. This can ensure 90 buses ply per hour and speed increases by over 20%. It can woo 10% of private car users to BEST, thereby reducing congestion, the forum suggested.
Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road
The first east-west connector is now a traffic nightmare. Transport expert Rishi Aggarwal said that the road over bridge (ROB) at Kanjur was a chicken's neck. “Lane management is urgently required. Also, the road surface quality at various spots slows traffic unnecessarily. There are stretches where the carriageway is wide and without constraints and vehicles speed at 40-50 kmph -- and then come to a grinding halt. Maintaining consistent corridor speed, even if it is 10 kmph during peak hour, should be the first priority with subsequent efforts to reduce impediments at the bottlenecks,” he advised.
In fact, JVLR might be the most dangerous space for pedestrians currently. This is an urban road, not a highway. He said any transport engineer would suggest simple remedies like variable speeds using variable signboards which can slow down traffic real time. If traffic slows down uniformly across the corridor, then it does not come hurtling down at a few bottleneck spots.
Another solution is constricting lane size to ensure a steady flow of traffic rather than have bottlenecks. Instead of 3 to 4 lanes converging into space for 1 or 2 lanes, one should limit the extra lanes and make only 1-2 lanes available uniformly on JVLR during peak hour.
Transport expert Ashok Datar feels BEST should be granted dedicated lanes on all arterial roads including JVLR. “If this is not possible for the whole day, the arrangement should be based on peak-hour-peak-direction basis,” said a report by Mumbai Vikas Samiti, a think tank.
Public policy (transportation) analyst Paresh Rawal said, “In JVLR, the landing part on the Jogeshwari side enters a very small lane which is not equipped to handle such high-density traffic. When we plan a bridge/ flyover, we must ensure that the number of lanes remains the same until the flow of traffic gets diverted to other arterial routes.”
Bandra-Worli Sea Link
The iconic Rs 1,600 crore Bandra Worli Sea Link (BWSL) opened in 2009. It can well recover construction costs through toll till 2039. However, daily traffic amounts to a meagre 50,000 vehicle trips, barely 50% of the projected figure of one lakh.
Transport analyst Ashok Datar says peak-hour traffic jams on either end, including Lilavati Hospital, which trigger a snowball effect ahead, are evidence of poor planning. “The coastal road and Bandra-Versova Sea Link may negate these jams, but their cost will be eight- to nine-times that of BWSL, bringing heavy toll taxes on Mumbaikars for a long time,” he warned.
Urban planner Nitin Killawala said the cost of the coastal road and two new Metro lines 2A and 7 is similar but Metro trains carry thousands of people and decongest traffic. Conversely, projects like the sea link and coastal road may encourage more people to buy vehicles. They will help only the elite who can afford toll.
Urban architect Jagdeep Desai said had the authorities built the BWSL till Haji Ali, as per the initial plan, traffic movement could have been smoother today.
But MSRDC chairman and managing director Anilkumar Gaikwad said once the coastal road is complete, the sea link will get more traffic and ease congestion at the South Mumbai as well as suburban ends. “We have plans to complete the Bandra-Versova sea link by 2027. Once that happens, a large volume of traffic will shift from the western suburbs, decongesting WEH and SV Road,” he said.
Eastern Freeway
Transport analysts and urban planners term the 17km Eastern Freeway built in 2013 at a cost of Rs 1,450 crore as a bigger success than the Bandra Worli Sealink (BWSL). The freeway is a no-toll facility.
It offers seamless, smooth travel between South Mumbai till Chembur. And yet, there are massive logjams when it ends near Dockyard Road during peak hours. Experts feel both, Freeway and BWSL, should allow BEST buses to ply.
Killawala said the freeway is a game changer that decongests the city during peak hours without charging motorists a single penny and takes traffic to the fringes of the city within minutes.
Datar said the freeway receives 70,000 vehicle trips per day. “The sea link is still struggling at 50,000. The freeway has largely decongested Eastern Express Highway and also helps traffic from Dadar, Matunga and Wadala disperse faster,” he pointed out.
Meanwhile, motorists will pay Rs 250 one-way to cross the new Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) and Rs 375 for a return journey, which many feel is unviable. The 22-km-long Sewri to Navi Mumbai bridge will open on January 12. MMRDA has spent Rs 21,200 crore on the project of which Rs 15,100 crore was a loan from the Japanese funding agency (JICA).