Mumbai: Guardian minister for Mumbai suburbs and MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha ’s request to MMRDA to remove the 9km cycle track in Bandra-Kurla Complex ’s G-block be removed and the space added back to the main carriageway to ease the “unbearable” traffic has met with mixed responses from cyclists and motorists. While cyclists said it was the city’s first well-laid cycle track, it is “underutilised”, urban planners, including NGO Praja’s CEO Milind Mhaske, argued that that adding the cycling space into the main carriageway may not effectively reduce congestion in BKC, instead improving the mass transit system connectivity between the busy Kurla and Bandra railway stations would be a more effective solution. On Monday, Lodha, along with Bharat Diamond Bourse members, met MMRDA chief Sanjay Banerjee and demanded that the cycle track be scrapped to widen the road to accommodate the increased traffic in BKC due to the Metro 3 construction work and the closure of Sion bridge on Aug 1.
The deadline for partial Metro 3 opening is Sept 2024. Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray, in a post on X, said the BKC traffic issue cannot be resolved by randomly increasing the road width. He said the solution lies in studying the newly emerging traffic patterns as new offices have come up, increasing public transport like BEST buses and placing more bus stops, and taking action on signal jumping, wrong-side driving, illegal parking and most importantly removal or better management of Metro work barricades.
“The random placement of barricades that aren’t needed for many work sites that have been closed and frequent route changes causes most chaos in BKC...
.I request the guardian minister to conduct this study too before taking a random misstep,” Thackeray posted. On Tuesday, Lodha said all suggestions, including Thackeray’s, will be considered by MMRDA before making a decision.
Dr Viswanathan Iyer, neurosurgeon and the city’s bicycle mayor, said: “The BKC cycle track would see better use if it connected the entire city comprehensively. Discontinuous tracks in a city where cyclist safety remains a concern are unlikely to succeed.” He added that they plan to submit their suggestions to Lodha.
Firoza Dadan, the city’s first bicycle mayor, said: “The BKC cycle track has a neat design with proper ramps and bollards, but is underutilised. Authorities should work upon building ridership, instead of considering removing it.” Andheri resident Dhaval Shah dreads his weekly commute to Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).
“Last week, it took me one hour to drive from my Lokhandwala home to Bandra, and 1.5 hours from Bandra highway to MCA. It was gridlock.
..Police were managing traffic, but it was super dense and they too couldn’t do much,” he said.
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