Aaditya Thackeray has voiced concern about the delayed opening of a section of the Gokhale bridge. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Another resident remarked, “The opening of at least one arm of the Gokhale bridge will provide some relief to motorists. Currently, we are compelled to use detours such as the Andheri subway, which significantly increases travel time. The closure of the bridge has also led to traffic congestion at diversions like the Vile Parle flyover and Andheri subway. The BMC should now expedite the opening of the second lane.”

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The second arm of Gokhale bridge, a four-lane structure linking the Western Express Highway in Andheri East to S V Road in the west, with a connector to Teli Gali in Andheri East, is scheduled to be completed by December 2024. However, work on the second arm has yet to commence. MLA Ameet Satam, who represents Andheri West, hailed the project as the fastest one executed by BMC. He said. “We are reopening a bridge over the railway portion within 15 months of its closure.”

The closure of the Gokhale bridge commenced in November 2022, with demolition works carried out from December 2022 to March 2023. Reconstruction efforts began on December 2, 2023, following a partial collapse of the bridge in 2018.

Originally slated for completion by April 2022, the reconstruction of the bridge faced delays due to the pandemic and technical challenges. Following an expert committee’s declaration of the bridge as dilapidated, the BMC decided to undertake its complete reconstruction. Initially, the civic body was tasked with building only the connector, while the Railways was responsible for the bridge over the railway track, according to the original plan. 

Dec ’22
Month demolition work began