Fadnavis opens three Mumbai bridges online, says '59 minutes Mumbai' goal within sight

Infrastructure is coming up rapidly in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region through the municipal corporation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said. He expressed confidence that the resolve of "Mumbai in 59 minutes" is now within sight. Fadnavis also said the multi-modal connectivity work under way in the region will speed up connections and bring a marked improvement in citizens' ease of living.

Fadnavis dedicated three bridges online from the Varsha residence. They are the rail overbridge at Vidyavihar railway station in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's N ward, linking Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg and Ramchandra Chemburkar Marg; the flyover at Sion railway station; and the flyover from Ratnagiri Junction to Chitranagari in Goregaon East, part of the Goregaon Mulund Link Road project. Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar attended from Pune. Skill Development Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha and Cultural Affairs Minister Ashish Shelar were also present. At the Vidyavihar event, public representatives including MLAs Rajhans Singh and Parag Shah, Mayor Ritu Tawde and Deputy Mayor Sanjay Ghadi were present.

Fadnavis said an uninterrupted north-south and east-west connectivity network is being built in the Mumbai metropolitan area. All three bridges are strategically important and will make travel easier for Mumbaikars. The Goregaon Mulund Link Road (GMLR) is a vital project for east-west connectivity. The Vidyavihar bridge links Ramchandra Chemburkar Marg in the east with Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg in the west. Travel in this area earlier took about 30 minutes and will now take 10 minutes. This will also ease the traffic load on the flyover at Ghatkopar station.

The flyover and elevated circular road project near Ratnagiri Hotel Junction in Goregaon East have been designed effectively, he said. Traffic congestion at the junction and nearby intersections will ease and traffic will move smoothly. The old Sion railway station bridge was 112 years old and unsafe. The chief minister explained that the new bridge will benefit traffic and also allow work to begin on the fifth and sixth railway lines. Once these are completed, the number and frequency of local trains can be increased, greatly benefiting passengers.

Fadnavis said the new Sion bridge will be an important link connecting Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg and the Eastern Express Highway in the east with Dharavi, Bandra and BKC in the west. He added that the Mumbai municipal corporation is rapidly expanding the city's connectivity through concrete roads, the Coastal Road and other infrastructure projects.

Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Ajit Pawar said many large projects are being completed quickly through coordination among the municipal corporation, the state government and the Centre, and that work is on time because of coordination among agencies at all three levels. She congratulated the civic administration, engineers, contractors, officials and workers. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide gave the introductory address. Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar and the chief minister's investment adviser Kaustubh Dhavse were also present.

The 112-year-old bridge at Sion had become unsafe. Its reconstruction was also taken up for the expansion of the fifth and sixth lines of Central Railway between CSMT and Kurla. This will speed up local and long-distance train traffic. It is the main route connecting Sion East and Sion West. The project cost is Rs 33.51 crore for the railway portion and Rs 31.62 crore for the approach road. The bridge work was completed about four months ahead of schedule. The rail bridge is 54.5 metres long and 26 metres wide. Two semi-through steel girders weighing 496 tonnes were used. The approach road is 65 metres towards Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road, 110 metres towards Dharavi and 97 metres towards LBS Road. Pedestrian subways have been built on LBS Marg and Sant Rohidas Marg. Touch piles were used to strengthen the ground.

The Vidyavihar bridge was built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and its main aim is to reduce the load on the flyover near Ghatkopar station. The work was done in two phases. In the first, services within the railway boundary were restored and two girders, each 99.34 metres long, were installed. In the second, service roads 500 metres long were built on each of the east and west sides. The bridge is 600 metres long and 15.50 to 17.50 metres wide. Travel between RC Marg in the east and LBS Marg in the west will come down from 30 minutes to about 10 minutes.

The Goregaon East flyover is 1.26 km long with six lanes. It is built of precast box-shaped concrete segments, with a curved steel span between P7 and P11. Built under the GMLR project to connect the eastern and western suburbs and relieve congestion, it will give easy access to the proposed twin underground tunnels beneath Sanjay Gandhi National Park. It will also remove heavy congestion around AK Vaidya Marg, Film City Road and the Hotel Ratnagiri junction area.