However, heavy vehicles will only be banned at specific timings on Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays, besides public holidays. Sunday however, has been exempted from the ban. The decision was taken given the endless traffic jams that the Expressway faces on a regular basis now, especially at the Khandala ghat section. That said, those heavy vehicles carry essential commodities will be exempted from the ban.
The government proposes to stop heavy vehicles at the Khalapur toll on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway between 5 PM to 7 PM on Fridays and between 7 AM to 12 PM on Saturdays. For heavy vehicles going from Pune to Mumbai, the same will be halted at Urse and Kusgaon toll posts on Mondays between 7 AM to 10 AM. A flexible time table is yet to be announced and will be implemented for public holidays.
Authorities managing the expressway suggest that the decision to ban temporarily ban heavy vehicles was taken after studying traffic jams for over three months. That said, while vehicles won't be allowed to ply on the expressway, the ban does not extend to the old highway. But, if traffic increases on the old highway, a similar restriction could be levied there as well.
