Three new Mumbai flyovers at Sion, Vidyavihar and Goregaon to open on October 22

Three important flyovers will be inaugurated in Mumbai on a single day to make traffic move faster and more easily. They have been built at Sion, Vidyavihar and on the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR). Lakhs of Mumbai residents will find their journeys easier once they open.

The railway overbridge near Sion railway station, the railway overbridge near Vidyavihar railway station and the flyover on the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road have been built by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate them virtually at 1 pm on Thursday, October 22, 2026. Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Ajit Pawar will be present as chief guests.

The Sion bridge is linked to the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP-2). Under it, Central Railway is planning two additional rail lines, the 5th and 6th, between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and Kurla. Space was needed for these lines, so the rebuilding of the bridge over the railway near Sion station was taken up to suit the railway's requirements. The 112-year-old bridge had also been declared unsafe, which made its reconstruction necessary.

Within railway limits, the railway department carried out the main bridge work. Within the municipal limits, the corporation's bridges department renovated and strengthened the approach roads in coordination with the railway. Central Railway has also built a new foot overbridge on the south side. Over the tracks, the railway has installed two semi-through steel girders, each weighing 496 tonnes, 54.5 metres long and 26 metres wide. A new pedestrian underpass was built under Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg on the west and opened on February 20, 2026. The old pedestrian underpass under Sant Rohidas Marg was shifted and rebuilt, and opened on July 14, 2026.

The approach roads have been built with embankment fill towards three main roads: Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg towards Kurla on the west, Sant Rohidas Marg towards Dharavi, and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg on the east. The approach road on the Dharavi side is 110 metres long and 27 metres wide. The Kurla-side road is 97 metres long and 29 metres wide. The road on the Dr Ambedkar Marg side is 65 metres long and 27 metres wide.

The pillars of the old bridge near Sion station stood between the rail tracks and were obstructing the laying of the new lines. The new bridge will provide additional space and allow the rail lines to be expanded, which will speed up local and long-distance trains. The bridge is an important east-west link connecting Dharavi, Bandra, the Bandra Kurla Complex and Kurla on the west with Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg and the Eastern Express Highway on the east. The work was expected to be completed in February 2027, but it finished four months early despite hurdles such as shifting utility lines and water pipelines and relocating affected trees and public toilets. The entire cost of the project was met from railway department funds.

The Vidyavihar flyover lies in the corporation's N Ward, in the Ghatkopar area. It passes over the Vidyavihar station tracks and connects Ramchandra Chemburkar Marg on the east with Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg on the west, and was built by the corporation's bridges department. Travel time will fall from 30 minutes to 10 minutes, and traffic on the flyover near Ghatkopar station will also ease.

The flyover is 600 metres long in all, with two lanes of 15.50 to 17.50 metres width. In the first phase, restoration of services within railway limits and the installation of two girders, 99.34 metres long and 24.50 metres wide, over the tracks were completed on May 31, 2024. In the second phase, a 500-metre service road on the east and west, the extension of the Somaiya nullah and the relocation of Central Railway service facilities were completed by September 30, 2026. The 650-metre project includes a 100-metre bridge over the tracks, with a 220-metre approach road on the east and a 330-metre approach road on the west. A connecting path from the bridge to the Vidyavihar station platform has also been provided, and the ticket windows on both sides, the station master's office and the stairs have been rebuilt.

The third flyover is part of the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR) project, being implemented by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Its main aim is to ease traffic between the eastern and western suburbs by linking the Eastern Express Highway with the Western Express Highway. A 1.26-km-long, 3x3-lane flyover has been built at the junction near Ratnagiri Hotel in Goregaon East. Construction of the flyover from General Arunkumar Vaidya Marg to Santosh Nagar on Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Marg in Goregaon (East) is complete.

The flyover is expected to considerably reduce congestion at General Arunkumar Vaidya Marg, Dindoshi Court, Hotel Ratnagiri junction, Valbhat Nadi Chowk and nearby areas. Its superstructure has been made of precast box-shaped concrete segments. A curved steel span has been built between pillars P7 and P11. Both pile foundations and open foundations have been laid, depending on the condition of the soil layers, and sloping approach roads have also been built.

The entire GMLR project, about 12.20 km long, will cut travel time between the western and eastern suburbs from 75 minutes to 25 minutes. It will also save fuel and improve Mumbai's air quality index (AQI). The corporation describes the project as an important step towards improving the living conditions of Mumbaikars.