Traffic standstill in the day, high-speed Porsche crash at night: Mumbai’s Western Express Highway can’t catch a break

Late last night, Mumbai’s Western Express Highway witnessed two unlikely events. One, a high-speed race between a Porsche and a BMW near Jogeshwari ended tragically. The driver of the blue Porsche lost control of the wheel, and the high-speed car crashed into a divider around 2 am on Thursday morning.

Two, the fact that the Western Express Highway was empty enough for this “race” to take place, according to netizens.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Navi Mumbai International Airport. He was joined by Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, state governor Acharya Devvrat, union ministers Ramdas Athawale, Rammohan Naidu Kinjarapu, and Murlidhar Mohol, and Japan’s Ambassador to India, Keiichi Ono, among others.

On the same day, the British Prime Minister Kier Starmer landed at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, promptly triggering restrictions on one of the busiest roads in the metro. The Western Express Highway also connects (for the most part) the major suburbs in the north of the city to both the international terminal at Andheri and the domestic airport at Santacruz.

Mumbai residents are hoping that at least some of the dignitaries who landed in Mumbai yesterday took the Western Express Highway, so that they could see the state of affairs of the road that many have been complaining about for months on social media.

One person posted pictures of potholes covered with metal platforms near Andheri East.

Another person promptly wished for visiting UK PM Kier Starmer to visit the “entire length” of the Express Highway so that it would “solve problems of lakhs of people.”

Another person on social media shared a useful tip with everyone… If you want to arrive on time, leave three hours prior. If you have a flight to catch, leave 4 hours before, even if you live near the airport.

Another user posted a video of a jam-packed Western Express Highway, and reasoned that it was because all traffic from byroads, flyover diverts, all ended up there.

Currently, the Coastal Road is under further development, which connects South Bombay to the rest of the city. If you consider that part of the Western Express Highway, it seems to be the only section that does not have problems (yet).

The Western Express Highway in Mumbai was busy. And some parts of it were always jam-packed due to bottlenecks. But yesterday, on account of ‘VIP movement’, commuters got the short end of the stick, triggering a series of social media backlash.

The latest luxury racing crash comes on the heels of the day the same highway saw traffic come to a standstill. The Porsche from the morning crash was totalled, but the driver reportedly survived the crash and is in critical condition.