Relieving traffic at Malad’s Mith Chowki: Eyeing December deadline, BMC conducts girder launch
Infamous for its traffic snarls, Mith Chowki is a four-arm junction that witnesses the heavy flow of traffic from Madh Island, Kandivali, Borivali, Andheri, and Versova coming from its four sides.
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A view of the two girders that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched on the under-construction T-shaped flyover over Malad’s Mith Chowki.
(Express photo by Sankhadeep Banerjee)With its eyes glued towards meeting the year-end target, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) launched two girders on the T-shaped flyover being constructed to relieve traffic over Malad’s Mith Chowki on the night of Tuesday, with the civic body slated to launch the pending girders in the coming days. In what will usher in a big relief to motorists traversing through the jam-packed Mith Chowki junction, the BMC is aiming to open one arm of the bridge by November, while a target of December has been set for the opening of the entire flyover.
Infamous for its traffic snarls, Mith Chowki is a four-arm junction that witnesses the heavy flow of traffic from Madh Island, Kandivali, Borivali, Andheri, and Versova coming from its four sides.
Seeking to bring relief from the high-waiting durations at the choke point, the civic body is constructing a T-shaped flyover, exclusively for light-weight vehicles, which will enable motorists commuting towards Malad station and Western Express High (WEH) to skip the traffic island through the bridge’s eastern arm. Meanwhile, the flyover’s southbound arm, which gives the structure its T-shape, will enable commuters to breeze past the congestion towards Infiniti Mall, Andheri, Juhu and Bandra.
On Tuesday night, the civic body launched two girders of the final span of the flyover which passes over the main Mith Chowki junction, while two final girders are set to be launched in the next 3-4 days, said a civic official.
“The entire flyover is divided into six spans, of which two pass over the junction while four spans are for the approach roads. Each span comprises four girders. Earlier this week, we launched some girders on Sunday while two girders over the junction were launched on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, the pending girders will also be launched in the upcoming days, which will mark the completion of all the girder launches,” said a civic official.
Fabricated in Ahmedabad, each girder weighs 20 tonnes and were assembled in the city before their launch. To facilitate the process on the heavily jammed junction, the civic body diverted traffic along the route and conducted the launch between 1 am and 4 am. Following the completion of girder launch, BMC is slated to commence civil works pertaining to concreting of slabs.
“While the opening depends on several factors like rainfall, we are aiming for a target of November-end for one lane to ensure that the commuters get relief to some extent. The right arm of the bridge is the more challenging aspect as it has a curve but despite all odds, we are working with the aim of completing work on the entire flyover by year end,” added an official privy to the project developments.
Pegged at a cost of Rs 53 crores–which saw an escalation to Rs 65 crores–the 800-metre-long flyover will cater only to one-way traffic. Furthermore, only light-weight vehicles will be allowed to ply since the bridge will pass beneath the Metro 2A line, leading to height restrictions.
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