Major Traffic Snarls Hit Pune-Mumbai Expressway During Peak Hours
Traffic on the crucial Pune-Mumbai Expressway slowed to a painful crawl during peak hours on Friday, with significant congestion severely affecting Pune-bound vehicles. Highway officials have pointed to a combination of the typical weekend rush and increased travel due to upcoming local body elections as the primary causes for the extensive delays.
Commuters Face Lengthy Standstills in Ghat Section
According to numerous affected commuters, vehicular movement came to a complete standstill for considerable periods, particularly in the challenging ghat section near Lonavla during the evening. One traveler returning from Mumbai recounted, "I was stuck in an extensive traffic jam near the Amrutanjan bridge around 7 pm. This kind of congestion is becoming a regular ordeal on this expressway." The commuter urged authorities to expedite work on new infrastructure projects, like the proposed bridge, to provide lasting relief from these recurrent delays.
Congestion Persists Throughout the Day
The traffic woes were not confined to the evening. Farooque Shaikh, traveling with his family towards Mumbai, encountered a halted traffic situation around 11 am. "For nearly 25 minutes, no vehicle moved near the ghat section," he said, expressing initial concern about a repeat of the hours-long gridlock experienced earlier in the week. Fortunately, traffic began flowing again after this brief stoppage.
A senior highway police officer confirmed that additional measures were being implemented to maintain traffic control, especially in the wake of a recent incident involving an overturned gas tanker near the Adoshi tunnel. Lawyer Rahul Patil, who left Mumbai at 5 pm, found himself caught in the evening snarl around 7 pm, taking over an hour to navigate the normally quick 11-kilometer stretch through the ghats.
Official Explanation: Weekend Patterns and Election Travel
The police official clarified that no accidents or untoward incidents caused Friday's congestion. Instead, it was attributed to a significant surge in vehicular volume. "We routinely manage heavy traffic on Fridays and Saturdays. Our standard procedure involves implementing temporary traffic blocks, often halting Mumbai-bound vehicles briefly to allow the heavier Pune-bound traffic to clear," the official explained. These controlled blocks typically last 10 to 15 minutes as a standard weekend traffic management tactic.
"This particular weekend, the vehicle count was exceptionally high, likely due to residents traveling to their hometowns to cast votes in Saturday's Zilla Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections," the official added, highlighting the unique compounding factor of election-related travel on top of the usual weekend exodus.
