Mumbai: Rs 25 crore tender to fix roads under use after Gokhale bridge closure

MUMBAI: The BMC on Tuesday floated a Rs 25-crore tender for resurfacing of roads, or 'bad patches' as it called it, on various alternate stretches that motorists have been taking owing to the closure of Gokhale bridge in Andheri. Interestingly, Rs 25 crore is almost one-third of the sum being spent on repairing the bridge itself.Officials said these are roads between Bandra and Malad, and they plan to commence the work immediately. Traffic police have listed out various alternate routes which motorists can use, but these roads witness heavy snarls during peak hours as the Gokhale bridge traffic load has shifted to them.A civic official said following the closure of Gokhale bridge, it has been noticed that alternate roads like Milan subway flyover, Andheri subway and Captain Gore flyover are witnessing bumper-to-bumper traffic. "Therefore, all remedial measures are being taken so as to ensure that traffic movement is smooth. In order to ensure that the roads are free of any bad patches, this tender has been floated. We are hoping to provide immediate relief to motorists," the official explained.Dhaval Shah of Lokhandwala Oshiwara Residents Aassociation said the issue was not of potholes. Appropriate traffic management would help ease the congestions, Shah said, adding, "Traffic police perhaps need more staff to manage the bumper to bumper traffic on Gore flyover. There are also major schools located on alternate roads, where motorists who come to drop their children leave their vehicles. This needs to be monitored with traffic vans moving in the area to ensure that parking on these roads does not slow down the moving traffic."On November 7, following traffic chaos due to the closure of Gokhale bridge, Mumbai Traffic Police had written to the BMC seeking urgent measures to smoothen vehicular movement on roads in the periphery across Santacruz, Vile Parle, Jogeshwari, Oshiwara and Andheri. Measures suggested included removal of hawkers from the adjoining S V Road and Link Road, filling up potholes and removing abandoned vehicles. The BMC had written to the joint CP, Traffic, on November 1 to close the bridge for vehicular movement as an inspection had found that various bridge elements such as RCC columns, tie beams, griders, deck slabs and bearings were heavily distressed and had lost their strength due to corrosion and environmental degradation. Hence the bridge was unsafe for vehicular movement, it said.