While the closure of the arterial Elphinstone Road road overbridge later this month is giving some Parel residents and commuters sleepless nights, five other key connectors across the city—the Vikhroli, Reay Road, Byculla, Gokhale and Carnac bridges—will be opened to motorists this year itself.
The cabled-stayed Reay Road bridge. File Pic/Shadab Khan
1. Reay Road bridge
The Reay Road bridge runs through the heritage Reay Road station, connecting the Byculla East area, passes over the harbour line and reaches Mahul Road and the Eastern Freeway. It was demolished by the authorities after it was declared dangerous by the IIT in an audit. The new state-of-the-art bridge has a cable-stayed design like the Bandra Worli Sea Link and is being built by the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (MRIDC or MahaRail) as a part of rebuilding 11 road overbridges and one road underbridge in Mumbai and suburban regions. This is one of the fastest constructed bridges in the city as work started in February 2022 and was completed in February 2024.
Cost: Rs 273 crore
Numbers: The new bridge is 385 metres long and has two ramps and six lanes. There are six pairs of cables on the cable-stayed span
The Carnac Bunder bridge, which is expected to be opened by the end of the year, on August 23, 2024. PIC/SAYYED SAMEER ABEDI
2. Carnac Bunder bridge
The 160-year-old Carnac Bunder bridge, which is located between the Masjid Bunder railway station and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, was declared dangerous by Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, following which the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) closed the structure in September 2022 and dismantled it two months later. Work on the bridge started the following year. The BMC and Railways launched the first girder of the bridge across railway lines in October 2024 and the second girder in January 2025. However, work on approaches is yet to be completed. The bridge is expected to open by the end of this year.
Cost: Rs 53 crore
Numbers: The length and width of the girder are 70 metres and 9.50 metres respectively. It weighs 550 metric tonnes
The under-construction Vikhroli bridge on August 13, 2024. PIC/SAYYED SAMEER ABEDI
3. Vikhroli bridge
This structure has been delayed because of land acquisition issues and the rehabilitation of project-affected people. In 2011, the level crossing gate was closed to the outrage of infuriated locals, severing east-west connectivity. It was in April 2024 that girders were placed over railway lines, but work on approaches is still going on and will take a few more months to be completed.
Cost: Rs 88.75 crore
Numbers: The respective length and width of the bridge are 615 m and 12 m
4. Gopal Krishna Gokhale bridge
This crucial east-west connector was closed for traffic on November 7, 2022, after being declared unsafe. Originally expected to be completed by May 2023, the bridge has faced multiple delays over the past two years. The BMC started two lanes of the bridge on February 26, 2024, with height restrictions. Currently, only light vehicles including cars and two-wheelers can ply the bridge, which hasn’t been opened for buses. The structure is expected to be completed by April 2025.
Cost: Rs 150 crore
Numbers: The length and width of the structure are 90 metres and 13.5 metres respectively
Graphic/Yogesh Jain and Suhas Kale
5. Byculla bridge
Work on the new Byculla bridge is expected to be completed by October 2025. In the first stage, a cable-stayed structure is being built parallel to the existing road overbridge without disturbing the existing one, and traffic will be continuous on the existing structure during this stage. In the second stage, the existing road bridge will be reconstructed at the same location after diverting traffic on the newly constructed parallel bridge. Construction of this cable-stayed bridge began on December 22, 2021.
Cost: Rs 287 crore
Numbers: The bridge is 916 metres in length, including approaches
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