Akurli subway widening work to be completed by October

Mumbai: Driving on the Western Express Highway (WEH) between Malad and Kandivali has been a nightmare for motorists for nearly two years now due to the presence of barricades near the Akurli subway, which is being widened.
Motorists are set to get relief soon, though, as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) will remove the barricades during the upcoming Ganpati festival and complete the subway-widening work by October, according to local MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar.
“Cementing is done, and curing work is underway,” the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said. “We have been informed that the barricades will be removed within a week’s time, while the balance 50% work on widening the subway will be completed by October.”
Bhatkhalkar inspected the work site last week, along with union minister and Mumbai North MP Piyush Goyal, MMRDA officials, and local residents. MMRDA officials said the work on the WEH is nearly complete, after which the barricades will be removed, opening up another one and a half lanes for motorists.
It currently takes anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes to cross the 1.5-2 km stretch on the WEH between Thakur Complex/Thakur Village and Malad East before Samata Nagar Police Station. The barricades disrupt traffic heading towards Lokhandwala in Kandivali via Akurli Road and towards Kandivali railway station using the Akurli subway under WEH.
Sanjay Jaiswal, a resident of Kandivali East, said local residents held meetings with Bhatkalkar, who then took up the issue with MMRDA. “This stretch does not feel like a highway at all due to severe traffic snarls. We have been informed that the barricades will be removed in the coming days, which will bring relief,” said Jaiswal.
“It is a nightmare travelling on the WEH between Malad and Kandivali,” said Raj Kashyap, a resident of Kandivali Lokhandwala who travels to Andheri by road for work. “It usually takes 40-45 minutes during peak hours, and there is utter mismanagement of traffic. When we sought an update from the government authorities, we were informed that the difficulties in the shifting gas pipeline have led to delays in faster clearance on the road above.”
An MMRDA official said the authority had initiated the widening of the Akurli subway, which was built in 1960s, to alleviate traffic congestion. “Three out of the five phases have been successfully completed and are now open for traffic. Progress on the remaining two phases has been hindered due to the unexpected discovery of an underground gas pipeline during piling work on the Borivali side of the Akurli subway,” said the official.
The gas pipeline is 300 mm in diameter and serves areas from Bandra to Dahisar along the WEH perimeter. The work of shifting the pipeline was initiated in June 2023, for which permissions were received from various authorities in November 2023 and the work was completed in April 2024. According to MMRDA officials, the barricades were to be removed four months after the pipeline-shifting work was completed, which will happen now.