Huge traffic jam on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, also known as Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway, due to the Maharashtra Day holiday today, May 1. It is reported that thousands of vehicles were stranded on the expressway for several hours. According to the Expressway control room, vehicles backed up for about five km in the Bhor Ghat section on the Pune-bound corridor while the traffic flow on the Mumbai-bound corridor was normal though the volume, especially that of cars, was a bit higher than usual.
However, traffic police managed to normalise the movement of vehicles on the Pune-bound carriageway before afternoon. Travellers and motorists, including X, have shown their frustration on social media platforms, as they have been stuck for long hours amid scorching heat.
A passenger who travelled towards Pune to attend a wedding last night said it took their bus more than an hour to cross the Amritanjan Bridge in the ghat section. An X user shared his experience while sharing a video that can be seen huge ques of vehicles, mostly cars stranded on the road. Commuter Karan Desai wrote, "It's insane that @MSRDCLtd @MahaPolice randomly stop entire downhill traffic on Pune Mumbai Expressway to prioritise uphill traffic whenever they feel like it 🙄 Pay exorbitant toll and waste hours stopped. @CMOMaharashtra how is this justified?"
Another motorist tagged Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, requesting him to run a Ro-Ro train between Mumbai and Pune. "@AshwiniVaishnaw can you please consside of having a ro ro train for cars from mumbai to pune as the expressway is always jammed on weekends. This will save petrol and give a safe and cost effective package for allPlease reply sir."
The Expressway often witnesses traffic snarls near the bridge as heavy vehicles slow down to negotiate the stiff gradient. To bypass this section, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is constructing a missing link road between the Ghat section and the Singhagad Institute to the east of Lonavala.