3 days after installing rubber speed breakers on JJ flyover, BMC set to remove them

Traffic congestion has increased, breakers may make way for rumblers

A traffic policeman tries to stop two-wheelers on JJ flyover. Two-wheelers are banned on this 2.4-km stretch. (Source: Express Archive)

Three days after installing a set of rubber speed breakers on the 2.4-km JJ flyover in South Mumbai, the Mumbai Traffic Police has admitted that the idea was a poorly thought out one, leading to long pile-ups and congestion on the arterial flyover. The police now say they did not anticipate the congestion the speed breakers would create. According to sources, the speed breakers are to be removed and replaced by rumblers.

Police officers from the Byculla traffic police chowkie who man traffic on JJ flyover, have been receiving complaints from motorists that the during peak hours, the travelling time on the stretch had increased from 10 minutes to 30 to 45 minutes due to the five speed breakers.

These were installed on Friday as the traffic department’s answer to the continuing spate of accidents on the stretch. “The speed breakers were installed on an experimental basis. However, we observed that they were increasing the congestion. We will remove the speed breakers within a day or two,” said B K Upadhyay, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic). Instead of the speed breakers, the traffic police is now contemplating on installing rumblers in the flyover.

“It took me anywhere between 30 to 35 minutes to cross the flyover in peak hours. However, since the past three days it has got worse. Due to the congestion, the travelling time has increased by another 15 to 20 minutes,” said Anil Ajmera, an IT professional working at CST.

“The flyover is of no use if crossing it takes this much time,” said Parag Solanki, who was stuck on the flyover for over 40 minutes on Monday morning.

When contacted, the traffic police officers manning JJ flyover said that since the last three days, there is more congestion and drivers have been complaining.

Upadhyay said: “The main aim of the speed breakers was to reduce the speed of two wheelers that ply on the stretch despite a ban. These riders ride haphazardly and crash into the dividers on the steep curves of the flyover. Two-wheeler riders have been involved in more fatal accidents in the flyover than four wheelers.”

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A study conducted by the police had showed that the installation of rubber speed breakers on the Eastern Freeway had helped reduce accidents on the stretch. However, the JJ flyover has a higher density of vehicles plying on the two lanes on each side of the flyover compared to the freeway or the four-lane western and eastern express highways.

“Within a week, we will install yellow rumblers on each side of the flyover so that the speed of the vehicles can become less without the driver having to press the break. Rumblers too will be installed at four places on each side of the flyover along the steep curves to save two-wheeler riders within a week,” said Upadhyay.

megha.sood@expressindia.com

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