Juhu Circle flyover will add to our traffic woes: local residents
MUMBAI: The ₹630-crore flyover offering a quick zip from C D Barfiwala Lane to the Juhu-Versova Link Road, gliding over Juhu Circle, is a bridge that fits right in with the BMC's grand plan of connecting the high-speed corridors of the Mumbai Coastal Road. Local residents, however, argue that the flyover's approach roads will create bottlenecks for those traversing the roads below.
A long time in the making, the Juhu Circle flyover has gone through many changes of plan. First floated in 2016 to reduce congestion at Juhu Circle, the flyover was meant to go along the pillars of the Metro 2B line at a lower level. But this was scrapped as it was found to be clunky and difficult.
After the next route—through Airports Authority of India land—was also abandoned in 2023 on account of height restrictions, the civic body went back to the original plan of going parallel with Metro 2B. One entry point of the flyover will now begin after Barfiwala Bridge ends near Juhu Galli, and the other one will be on the Juhu-Versova Link Road.
Milaan Vigraham, a resident of the area, said that the roads where the flyover was being built were three-lane roads, with a few encroachments on C D Barfiwala Lane. 'Once the flyover is in the thick of construction, it will occupy two of them, leaving a measly one lane at the approaches for everyone who wants to go anywhere else at the junction,' he said. 'The flyover is only catering to those who want to go from Juhu to Andheri West and WEH, but the junction meets vehicles travelling from Gulmohar Road, NS Road Number 10, and CES Marg. They will all still have to wait for the two signals and also have the flyover's pillars to contend with.'
Vigraham also raised the concern that some trees along the Juhu-Versova Link Road would have to be axed to make space.
Along with architects and urban planners Alan Abraham and Nitin Killawala, the bunch tried to appeal to the BMC to choose an alternative when the work on the bridge was beginning in September-October 2024. 'Why doesn't the BMC work on reducing the signal time first, which would improve the congestion at the junction?' asked Vigraham. Abraham pointed out that the BMC needed to concentrate on the other roads earmarked in the Development Plan 2034, which will add alternatives to the traffic flocking to the circle. Due to scant support from the area's residents, however, their fight fizzled out.
Mahindra Chawla, an architect who uses the road frequently and was part of a campaign that argued for the bridge, said the Juhu Circle junction was terrible. 'The signals there are too long, and then they open for too short a time,' he said. 'Bottlenecks are inevitable in a city so chock-full of traffic but possibly around 80% of the traffic that uses the junction uses it to go to the other suburbs. The locals form possibly 20% of the traffic, so the flyover will be a boon for most.'
An official from the BMC's bridge department, however, said that traffic at the bottlenecks would not be an issue, as the flyover would divert much of the traffic going through Juhu Circle. 'Commuters from Versova and Juhu will reach Andheri and then go on to Gokhale Bridge towards the WEH in 10 minutes flat, way down from the current 45 minutes,' he said. 'The flyover will also have a link later to the Bandra-Versova Sea Link, so people coming from there can reach the WEH easily and quickly.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
a day ago
- Indian Express
Changing City: By year-end, new cable-stayed Belasis Bridge likely to ease traffic between Nagpada, Tardeo
A new cable-stayed Belasis Bridge is set to become operational in November to facilitate vehicular movement between Nagpada and Tardeo in south Mumbai. Belasis Bridge is one of the oldest east-west bridges in the city and is located in a congested area in south Mumbai. One of the key road over bridges (ROB) in south Mumbai, the old bridge was built in 1893. The earlier structure was a conventional ROB that was found to be structurally unstable in 2018. Following this, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation mooted the proposal to demolish the bridge, and this was done in June last year. Once the new bridge becomes operational, it will ease traffic movement in areas like Tardeo, Mahalaxmi and Byculla, allowing seamless vehicular movement. The travel time between Nagpada and Tardeo will also come down to 5-7 minutes, which otherwise takes more than 20 minutes during peak hours. The new bridge will be cable-stayed with six vehicular lanes – three times more than the existing structure – to allow more vehicles to pass at a given time. Underneath the bridge, an additional underpass will be built to facilitate citizens' movement. At present, construction work on the new bridge is underway, and civic authorities said that civil works have reached the halfway mark. The overall cost of the bridge has been pegged at Rs 110 crore, with the BMC paying Rs 70 crore, while the balance Rs 40 crore is being paid by the railways. The BMC has completed more than 65 per cent of the foundation work and is expecting to open the structure by the end of this year. 'The primary reason why we are opting for cable-stayed bridges is to ensure that the project is completed at the earliest. The earlier deadline for this bridge was set in June 2026, however, at the start of this year, this target was preponed to November 2025, and we are eyeing to meet the target,' Abhijit Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), said.
Time of India
4 days ago
- Time of India
BMC readies to open Carnac bridge in south Mumbai next week
Mumbai: After opening the Vikhroli rail overbridge over the past weekend, the BMC is now gearing up to open the Carnac bridge in South Mumbai by next week. The construction of the bridge is almost complete, and the BMC carried out a load test between June 13 and 15. The civic body expects the clearances to come in by this week and is looking to open this bridge by the start of next week, said officials. The new bridge will serve as a vital connector between South Mumbai and the eastern suburbs, linking commuters to the Eastern Freeway and the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, which connects to Navi Mumbai. A BMC official said, "The traffic police will also carry out an inspection, which is a routine process after the construction of a new bridge, and following a nod, we will be ready to open the bridge to motorists." Meanwhile, a day after a TOI report on Vikhroli's newly opened bridge, which is a two-way bridge with three lanes and no footpath, the BMC said, "During the planning phase, the eastern approach road near Vikhroli station measured approximately 16 to 18 metres in width. On the western side, an 18.3-metre-wide Development Plan (DP) road existed but was encroached upon, significantly reducing its usable width. Furthermore, as per the norms prescribed by the Chief Fire Officer (CFO), a minimum 6-metre-wide slip road was required for emergency vehicle access, thereby further constraining the design width of the ROB. Considering these spatial limitations, a decision was taken to construct a 12-metre-wide bridge without footpaths, as the inclusion of footpaths would have narrowed the vehicular carriageway and impeded traffic flow." Further, the civic body also said that the newly completed ROB is a three-lane structure, and the Mumbai Traffic Police has been entrusted with regulating vehicular flow. "Depending on traffic volume, two lanes are being allocated in the direction of heavier flow, ensuring smooth transit and optimal road usage for commuters," said a BMC statement.
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Indian Express
Mumbai's new Carnac Bridge opening next week; BMC to display 6 heritage stones on it
Three years after the old Carnac Bridge was demolished, a new Carnac Bridge is set to become operational in South Mumbai early next week, officials from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. The old Carnac Bridge, a 154-year-old structure, was demolished in November 2022 after a structural audit declared the bridge unfit for daily use and called for its reconstruction. Authorities started constructing the new bridge immediately. 'The construction of the bridge is almost completed and we carried out a load test between June 13 and 15. We have asked the traffic police to carry out an inspection and give their inputs about the bridge, which is a routine process and have also written to the railways asking for their NOC since the bridge passes above railway tracks. We expect the clearances to come by this week and hope to open the bridge by the start of next week,' Abhijit Bangar, Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects), told The Indian Express. The new bridge runs between the Masjid and CSMT stations in South Mumbai and provides a direct connection to motorists travelling towards P'D Mello Road. The new bridge is being built at a cost of Rs 60 crore and will be a superstructure made of steel that will be 70 m long and 9.5 m wide. It will have four vehicular lanes allowing for smooth traffic flow, compared to the two-lane traffic on the previous bridge. This means that the new bridge would hold double the traffic volume. The bridge will be equipped with modern-day signage and lighting. Once operational, the Carnac Bridge is expected to decongest South Mumbai roads significantly. Even though the initial tenders were floated in 2016, the bridge could be demolished only six years later. A major challenge faced by the civic authorities was clearing encroachments surrounding the bridge. Besides, a police outpost, an electric supply substation, a temple, and a gymnasium also came in the way of the demolition. Consequently, it took nearly five years for the authorities to start work on the bridge from the date of the issuance of work orders. 'Initially, we faced several hurdles when the project was in the ideation stage, resulting in a delay of many years. At present, these projects are on track and work is going on in full swing. The bridges will bring down the traffic woes in the suburbs and island city by a significant level,' Bangar said. Six heritage stones to be kept on the new bridge Civic officials also said the six basalt stones with inscriptions in Marathi, Gujarati, Hindi and English would be restored and kept on the new bridge. The original inscriptions included the year 1858, when the construction of the old Carnac Bridge began, and 1868, when the construction work was completed. The stones had the name of the bridge inscribed in four languages along with an 'anchor', which officials state was a symbol of good luck and prosperity brought through maritime trade. These stones were discovered from the debris of the bridge by civic officials, following which they were kept temporarily at the CSMT railway station. 'The Carnac bridge has a rich past and the bridge belongs to the BMC. Therefore, the stones ideally should be there. We have identified a spot on the bridge where these stones will be kept as a memoir of its past,' Bangar said.
