To avert ‘political clashes’ BMC to open southern arm of Malad’s T-shaped flyover without ceremony

“This time no inauguration ceremony will be held and the vehicular arm will be opened allowing vehicles to ply directly from early next week, likely from January 13 (Monday). At present, the ancillary works like painting road signages, setting up traffic beams and lights are underway which we are intending to complete by the weekend,” an official told the Indian Express.

The eastern end of the already operational “east-west” arm originates near the Girdhar Park Bridge, which passes above the Malad Creek and extends above the traffic junction. The westward landing is near St Joseph’s school. This arm caters to vehicles travelling towards Malad Station, Western Express Highway (WEH) from Kandivali, Malvani, and Madh Island.

The upcoming southbound arm will help motorists travel towards Infiniti Mall and Andheri, Juhu.

At one point, the elevated metro 2-A line goes past the 800-metre-long flyover, therefore, the flyover will only cater to two-wheelers and light motor vehicles (LMV), while entry for buses and heavy vehicles will be restricted.

“Most of the vehicles that cause congestion in Mith Chowky are auto-rickshaws, two-wheelers, and four-wheelers. Therefore, this flyover will specifically cater to them… The road below will cater to heavy vehicles and BEST buses,” the official said.

The Mith Chowky is a four-arm traffic junction, where the S V Road intersects the road going towards Madh Island. This junction is a primary connecting point in the western suburbs as all vehicles travelling towards Andheri from Dahisar and Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) take this road. Due to the heavy influx of vehicles, it takes 10-15 minutes to pass the 50-metre stretch during peak hours.

However, once the flyover is ready travel time may come down to three minutes.

The idea of creating a flyover in this junction was floated in 2014. However, the project did not see the light of day owing to the announcement of the Metro project, as there was an ambiguity over the height of the Metro viaduct. Therefore, the BMC waited for the Metro line to become operational, following which the work of the flyover was initiated.