Mith Chowky’s T-shaped flyover to be inaugurated on Oct 5

This 800-metre-long flyover will have two arms extending towards the eastern and southern side. Initially, only the east-west arm will be made operational for vehicular movement. While the southern arm of this bridge is set to be opened by the end of this year.

Considering the elevated north-south metro 2-A line passing above this bridge, the proposed 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 other LMVs.

Therefore this flyover will specifically cater towards them. Also, since the elevated metro bridge passes over this junction we also had to keep a restriction on the height of vehicles that will take the flyover. The road below will cater to heavy vehicles and BEST buses,” said an official involved with this project.

Earlier, the BMC had eyed a January 2024 deadline for this project. However the deadline was postponed considering the piling work for creation of foundations took longer than usual.

“Since, metro lines pass above the intersection, it was not possible for us to make a cable-stayed bridge, which would have required less piling. Therefore, we had to carry out piling works in a conventional way. That required some extra time, considering that these works can’t be taken up during the monsoon,” the official said.

The flyover will originate near Girdhar Park Bridge, passing above the Malad Creek and extends above the Mith Chowky traffic junction. The eastern landing will be near St. Joseph’s school, from where vehicles can move further towards Malad station and Western Express Highway (WEH), and the south-bound arm will drop at Link Road, from where motorists can take the route towards Andheri, Juhu and Sanactruz.

The idea of creating a flyover at this junction was floated back in 2014, however the project was put on the back burner after the announcement of the metro project. The BMC waited for the metro line to become operational, following which the work of this new flyover was initiated.