Will Gokhale Bridge Ever Become Operational? Confusion Continues As Partial Opening Date Remains Unconfirmed
Gopal Krishna Gokhale Bridge’s opening dates remain unconfirmed as local elected authorities have said that the bridge can only be partially opened by March, while senior civic officials have insisted that the bridge will be ready by the end of February.
According to The Indian Express report, assistant municipal commissioner for projects P. Velrasu stated that the bridge will be completed by February 26. “The majority of the civil work is finished; only finishing touches are needed. By February 26, we want to have this bridge ready,” he stated.
However, taking to X, Ameet Satam, a BJP MLA from Andheri (West), posted that partial opening of the bridge will be possible only in March. He stated that it would be completely operating by December 2024.
He wrote, “The work on one section of the #GokhaleBridge is nearly complete, with final finishing touches and curing underway at SV Roadside Access, along with the application of the mastic layer. This process is expected to take around 7 to 10 days. Once completed, the bridge will be opened for two-way movement on one side. An exact date for the opening will be communicated soon, likely either next week or in the first week of March, but no later than that.”
He said that approaches to Telli Gully will also be opened concurrently.
Mentioning about certain height barriers he wrote, “However, there will be a height barrier of 2.8 meters in place initially, restricting the movement of vehicles above that height. This barrier will be removed by May 31st, allowing all vehicles of any height to pass through. Since one side of the Gokhale bridge is equivalent to 3 lanes in width, all traffic issues due to the closure will be resolved.”
Gokhale Bridge Update:
— Ameet Satam (@AmeetSatam) February 22, 2024
-The work on one section of the #GokhaleBridge is nearly complete, with final finishing touches and curing underway at SV Roadside Access, along with the application of the mastic layer. This process is expected to take around 7 to 10 days. Once completed,… pic.twitter.com/tfpf7oWrXl
Earlier, the BMC stated that the bridge would be partially operational by December 2023 and entirely operational by May 2024. However, the deadline to partially reopen it was postponed to mid-February 2024.
Civic officials stated that the rebuilt bridge will feature two lanes on each arm. They stated that initially, only one arm would be opened to accommodate vehicles travelling from the east and west.
