THANE: The presence of warehouses in Bhiwandi and 'uncontrolled' heavy vehicle traffic using the stretch within Thane limits are primarily accountable for potholes and colossal traffic congestion on the route reveals a survey of Mumbai-Nashik highway, officials said.
The findings were derived after an inspection of the Thane and Vadape stretch until late Friday - a day after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar issued directives to ease the commuting experience for those using the highway. A team of high-ranking officials from state road development body, MSRDC, Thane traffic department, and a few elected representatives conducted an on-site assessment of the stretch on Friday and devised a resolution to be executed in the forthcoming days.
"One paramount factor contributing to congestion on the highway is existence of numerous warehouses in the interior regions frequently accessed by heavy vehicles that often traverse at a sluggish pace and in an unregulated fashion over internal roads that are in a dilapidated state. This often leads to heavy truck traffic overflowing onto the Nashik highway, impacting other traffic and interfering with outbound traffic at Rajnoli and Mankoli junctions, leading to bottlenecks," said an official who was present during the survey.
The 23km Thane-Wadape segment of the highway that links Mumbai, Gujarat, Navi Mumbai and Nashik, north Maharashtra, sees at least around 1.5 lakh vehicles daily, including freight, private, and public transport buses.
"We are deploying more traffic wardens at Rajnoli and Mankoli junctions to regulate traffic to and from the warehouses... Also, Bhiwandi Nizampur civic body will be requested to improve road conditions connecting these godowns with highways... Also, we are setting up a control room to manage traffic," said Anil Gaikwad, vice-chairman and managing director, MSRDC.
MLA Rais Shaikh from Bhiwandi East, insisted the government implement the toll waiver as proposed by Pawar at the earliest.
