In yet another example of poor planning by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the Santa Cruz foot overbridge (FOB) on the Western Express Highway (WEH) will have to be demolished to make way for the new Sahar elevated road, which will connect the airport and the highway. To put it simply, the cost of the project will now increase manifold, as it will include the costs involved in demolishing the existing FOB and the construction of a new one.
Explaining the problem, a senior traffic police officer said that a few metres ahead of where the Santa cruz flyover towards the north ends, there is a foot overbridge on the WEH.
The central pillar of this FOB is exactly in the centre of the highway. Moving the pillar to either side of the highway will occupy a lot of space, which will affect the movement of traffic, said Vivek Phansalkar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic). Phansalkar said the strength and support of the FOBÂ’s central pillar would be tampered during the constructing of the road that will go underground from WEH to connect to the road before hitting the Sahar elevated road.
Demolishing the foot overbridge will inconvenience pedestrians who use it to cross from one side of the highway to the other. The safety of pedestrians is of utmost importance to us. Installing a signal at this junction can also be dangerous and will compromise the traffic movement, he added. Phansalkar said that pedestrians shouldnÂ’t cross highways as it is dangerous.
Also, the dividers on the highway will pose another problem as pedestrians will have to jump over them to cross. Hence, the option of putting up a signal for pedestrians has been ruled out by the traffic police department.
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