MUMBAI: The road along the Metro’s alignment is in a state that will defeat the very purpose of the Rs 4,321-crore project. Smooth, noise-free rides on the corridor will be in contrast with bottlenecks and traffic jams on the stretch below it.

The problems start at DN Nagar station (after Versova), where one lane towards SV Road is blocked for concretization. At Andheri station , hawkers impede vehicles; also, the road surface is rough. At the Western Express Highway station , the stretch below is blocked for repairs. Near JB Nagar station, the road has been dug up for repairs and machines occupy one lane of the west-bound carriageway.

People wonder why road improvement work along the Metro’s alignment is being carried out at such a late stage. “It takes almost 30 minutes to travel from the Metro depot to the DN Nagar station during peak hours because of road concretization work,” said Rohan EL , who travels on the stretch regularly. “It could have been repaired well in advance, probably at the time of building the station.”

MMRDA officials said work on the roads cannot be accelerated because of heavy traffic. “We plan to finish the work by the end of this month. The planning is in coordination with Metro officials, who are giving finishing touches to the stations,” said an official.

