2.5-km dedicated bus lane likely by Feb……RASHANT RANGNEKAR
A DEDICATED lane for buses would be operational on a 2.5 km patch of the Western Express Highway from Jay Coach Flyover at Jogesh wari to Times of India fly over, Kandivili by the month-end. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region De velopment Authority (MM RDA), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Trans port (BEST) undertaking and the Mumbai Traffic Po lice have decided to try out the concept of dedicated lanes on this patch.
“The traffic police and BEST would be executing the project and the MM RDA would be providing infrastructure. If the project is successful, it can be ex tended to the entire stretch on the Western and Eastern Express Highays,” said P R K Murthy, Chief of the Transport and Communica tions division. It is still un clear when the project would be executed, but BEST has been asked to keep the buses ready by the end of this month.
This is not the first time that the MM RDA would be having dedicated lanes. A couple of years ago, a lane was dedicated for BEST buses on the Eastern Express Highway by creating barri cades. However, the plan failed as speeding vehicles crushed the barricades and there was hardly any moni toring done on vehicles using this lane. “We would be erecting temporary barri cades,” Murthy added.