The revamping of service roads in Mumbai is part of a significant plan to concrete the entire Western Express Highway (WEH) and Eastern Express Highway (EEH) in phases over the next few years. The service roads will be concreted to serve as additional lanes for heavy vehicles and to provide better access to the main carriageway. The BMC has issued a tender with an estimated cost of Rs 1,591 crore for concreting approach roads totaling 44 km in length that connect both highways to major and minor roads in the city.
There is a debate over whether to concrete service roads, which are less utilized than main roads and often trenched due to utilities underneath. However, it is revealed that the concreting of service roads is just the initial step in the larger project to convert both highways into concrete roads. These service roads are currently filled with potholes, and approximately 42 per cent of the 18,499 potholes reported in the city between June and August were found on both highways, including service roads.
Abhijeet Bangar, additional commissioner of the BMC, mentioned that the defect liability period of the WEH and EEH has ended, and the highways will be converted to cement concrete in phases over the next few years. The concreting of service roads will help divert traffic during the reconstruction of the highways. The BMC has partnered with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay to ensure the quality of city roads by conducting quality control checks of the cement concrete road works.
The Central Road Research Institute, which conducts fundamental research in sustainable technologies for roads and smart transport, stated that they conduct research based on the requirements of client institutions and submit reports accordingly. The contract period for concreting service roads is 24 months, excluding the monsoon season, and includes civil works, concreting works, construction of stormwater drains, ducts, footpaths, and allied works.
It is essential to maintain the quality of roads in Mumbai, as the city currently has a road network of 2,050 km, with 1,224 km already concreted. Last year, the BMC awarded contracts to concrete 397 km of roads worth Rs 6,089 crore, and this year, they are in the final stages of awarding contracts worth Rs 6,200 crore for the remaining roads. The EEH and WEH were taken over by civic authorities from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) for maintenance in 2022, and the total length of the approach roads is 44 km.
