Over a year after one arm of Andheri's Gokhale bridge was opened for commuters, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is likely to launch the second phase of the Gokhale bridge by May this year. On Friday, BJP MLA from Andheri West Ameet Satam, who inspected the worksite alongside civic officials and contractors, said the BMC is executing the final leg of works on a war footing. Following his inspection, Satam said while maximum work has been completed, landing of three girders on the eastern portion and western front each are yet to be carried out. So far, the landing of three girders - one on the east side, and two on the west side - has been completed. Currently, on the eastern flank, the civic body has completed work on the four foundations, four piers, three caps as well as 85 per cent of the RE ramp works. On the western front, meanwhile, the BMC has completed works on all the five piers and their foundations while four pier caps have been installed. "Work is going on a war footing and the bridge will be opened for traffic in May," said Satam. On February 26 last year, the southern arm of the bridge was opened for commuters. While the civic body was eyeing to open the second arm by year-end, its completion has now been pushed to mid-2025 owing to delays induced by technical challenges. Meanwhile, the alignment connecting Gokhale bridge and CD Barfiwala flyover was opened for traffic on July 4 last year. The bridge in the western suburbs was closed for traffic in November 2022, after the authorities cited weak structural stability of the bridge. The process to demolish the old structure by the Western Railway began in December 2022 and the work order for building the new bridge was issued in January, 2023.
