Gokhale Bridge closure: Day-1 marked by traffic jams, travel delays, hesitant auto drivers

Mumbai: The Gokhale Bridge in Andheri, shut from Monday, led to heavy traffic jams in the alternate routes for East-West connectivity in the Andheri and areas in its periphery. Citizens complained of arriving late to work due to the jams, even as BEST buses were re-routed and Metro-1 became a desired mode of transport.

Last week, HT was the first to report that Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had written to Mumbai Traffic Police, asking for a closure of Gokhale Bridge, after a report submitted by SCG Consultancy drew attention to structural cracks in the bridge and corroded steel inside.

The bridge is a key connector between Andheri East and West, and despite a short duration spent on the preparation and alternate routes announced by the traffic department, the area was heavily congested on Monday morning. On Friday evening, Mumbai traffic police had issued a notification shutting Gokhale Bridge from Monday, providing six alternate routes. On an average, travelling from West to East, which usually takes 10 minutes increased to nearly an hour for many commuters.

The two nearest routes -- Vile Parle flyover and Andheri subway -- which are otherwise also congested, witnessed more jams.

The traffic police claimed that there were no major traffic jams reported in and around Andheri due to two reasons, “We had deployed extra manpower, including 60 officials from Sahar, Vakola, Santacruz and DN Nagar traffic police chowkies, and 30 wardens to manage traffic near the bridge. It also helped that there was much awareness among commuters already, through social media and news reports,” said Nitin Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) West region.

Pawar said, among the four alternate routes for connecting West to East, the Andheri subway witnessed the maximum load, leading to traffic moving at a snail’s pace. “We have asked for 200 more wardens from the BMC to manage the volume of vehicles,” said a traffic police official.

Officials also observed, since Tuesday is a public holiday, many commuters may have taken a holiday on Monday which led to less volume of vehicles, compared to other working days. “We still have to analyse the traffic for at least 10 days to judge the impact of the bridge’s closure on traffic in the suburb,” added Pawar.

Officials warned of jams on peripheral roads connecting main roads to residential areas in Andheri and adjoining suburbs.

“The BMC needs to focus more on these roads on the periphery to facilitate easy travel – fill up potholes and repair the roads. Traffic police should ban illegal parking on road sides,” said Sudhir Badami, a traffic expert.

On Monday, autorickshaws were unwilling to ply from Andheri station on the west, towards Vile Parle due to traffic jams. Share autos were seen plying with more than three people at a time, because of the rush.

“If I go towards Vile Parle right now, I will be sitting in traffic jam for an hour and a ₹30 journey will cost ₹100 for commuters,” said an auto driver.

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VOX-POP

 Suheil Merchant, Corporate Communications Professional

Travel Time using Gokhale Bridge: 20 minutes to reach office by road.

Travel Time after bridge shutting: Changed commute to Metro. Took 25 minutes to travel from Andheri West to Andheri East.

“I used to take an auto from Juhu Galli to Andheri East for work. Today onwards, I have decided to take a Metro. My home is closer by rickshaw from Andheri station but autos refuse the run from Andheri; so now I have to get down at DN Nagar Metro station and take a longer route using rickshaw,” said Merchant.

 AK Talwar, Businessman

Travel Time using Gokhale Bridge: 10 minutes to reach office, from Andheri West to Andheri East by road.

Travel time after bridge shutting: 1 hour 20 minutes, using Vile Parle flyover.

“My home is right next to Gokhale Bridge. My commute time has increased by an hour and 10 minutes. As I am a frequent flyer, reaching the airport will be a challenge now. I will walk from east to west, instead of using my car, to save time. This is a nightmare. BMC should have planned better. Bridges are built in record time in other countries. Why not here? BMC has enough money to pay IIT-Bombay for approvals; why the hold-up,” said Talwar.

 Saswat Kar, Management Professional

Travel time using Gokhale Bridge: 45 minutes to reach office from Andheri West to Andheri East.

Travel time after bridge shutting: 3 hours, using Andheri subway after multiple diversions.

“I live in Lokhandwala and my office is in Andheri East. I had no idea that the bridge was shut today and got stuck in traffic. This is an embarrassment for a financial capital of a country. Why couldn’t government send out cluster messages to citizens about the bridge shutting. Henceforth, I will leave from home before 8am to skip peak hour traffic or else it will take me hours to reach at work. I was delayed by over two hours on Monday morning,” said Kar.

 Nikita Sharma, Chartered Accountant

Travel time using Gokhale Bridge: 10 to 15 minutes to cross to Andheri East from West.

Travel time after bridge shutting: She will use the foot-over-bridge provided by railways to cross over and then take an auto.

“I live in the area where the alternate route is planned. Today, there was a total spillover of traffic in the area surrounding Gokhale Bridge. There was constant honking and vehicles barely moved in a span of 20-30 minutes. Traffic snarls continued till 1 pm. We are worried that access to any tertiary hospital in case of an emergency will be impossible,” said Sharma.

HL:

11,000 extra footfalls in Metro, over last week

Ankita G Menon

ankita.gopakumar@htlive.com

Mumbai:

Monday saw a major rush on Mumbai Metro One, after the closure of Gokhale Bridge. At the last count (at 5pm) it registered an additional 11,000 footfalls. Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), which runs from Ghatkopar to Versova, will observe the ridership for the next few days and provide additional services should the need arise.

MMOPL runs from Ghatkopar to Versova and has a daily ridership of over 3.85 lakhs. “We have kept trains on standby due to the closure of the bridge. When the bridge was closed in July 2018, we managed to accommodate additional commuters,” said the spokesperson for MMOPL.

An increase in footfalls on stations situated in Andheri West was noted. “A 17% rise in ridership at Versova and D N Nagar Metro stations was recorded. Moreover, around 26% rise in Azad Nagar Metro station was noted on a single day,” said the spokesperson.

Evidently, people are switching to Metro for a smooth travel.

Milind Shah, 42, a resident of Versova, drives down to Marol Naka daily for work. “Anticipating traffic, I took the Metro today and it was not as crowded even during peak hours. I had to walk from the Versova station to my home, but the 15-minute walk is preferable to being stuck in traffic.”

Shah’s father, who has never used public transport, while going to work was stuck in traffic for more than an hour on Monday evening. “The traffic was hardly moving. For the first time in his life, he has agreed to travel by Metro with me,” added Shah.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and transport (BEST) diverted four buses that ply from Andheri East to Andheri West via New Nagardas Road. These will now go from Old Nagardas Chowk to reduce the load on these routes. “We have diverted bus numbers 308, 339, 392 and 441,” said public relations officer from BEST. Buses that used to go through Gokhale Bridge have now been diverted towards Pinki Cinema, New Nagardas Road, and via Andheri Subway to Andheri West.

HL

School buses will run late

Ankita G Menon

ankita.gopakumar@htlive.com

Mumbai:

The school bus owner’s association (SBOA) has notified principals of schools in Andheri to expect a delay in dropping students to school or home, as most buses will take an additional 45 minutes daily due to the closure of this bridge.

“The authorities have wasted around four years with no progress in work. When alternate roads were announced we alerted schools and parents to not panic if buses come late. The diversions and traffic on alternate routes add 45 minutes to an hour for the run. This will add to our maintenance costs making it difficult to manage the overheads,” said Anil Garg, SBOA.

Vidhi Jain, parent of a six-year-old boy from Utpal Sanghvi Global School, said, “It takes half an hour for my son to reach school but on Monday the alternate travel route took around one hour 10 minutes. This affects the children’s meal times as well – they have to eat an early lunch before leaving for school and I will have to add additional snacks for the evening if the buses are delayed. Children will not be able to cope if this routine continues for over a year.”

Meanwhile, another parent whose child does not use the Gokhale Bridge, is also facing trouble due to traffic congestion and overcrowding. “A half-hour distance became one hour on Monday. The delay in returning from school will impact their daily schedule. They are hungry, have to attend tuitions and may have to curtail playtime, which is not healthy,” said Pooja Podar, parent of a five-year-old and 11-year-old boys studying at Shri Vile Parle Kelvani Mandal School.

Meanwhile, Watchdog Foundation has proposed to Western Railway (WR) to allow its south-bound bridge for use of school, college students and senior citizens.

“It is important to understand the nuances before closing a bridge. It could have been closed gradually. For now, they can allow the bridge connecting the platforms to open for general public so that commuters can cross over and opt for another mode of public transport,” said Godfrey Pimenta, Trustee, Watchdog Foundation.

With WR stating that the bridge does not come under its purview, Pimenta has shared the request with BMC commissioner.

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HL:

‘Get army to build the bridge’

Ankita G Menon

ankita.gopakumar@htlive.com

Mumbai:

Around 2000 signatures were collected within 24 hours of the Andheri Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association (ALOCA) launching an online petition. The petition is for the chief minister to allow the Indian Army to construct the bridge on war footing.

The petition has been signed mostly by residents of Andheri and Vile Parle. Dhaval Shah, member of ALOCA, said, “This is a crucial bridge for residents of Andheri and Vile Parle. Completing it on priority will help reduce inconvenience to regular commuters. We have been using one way of the bridge over the last four years, without any progress in work. The army can complete it in six months or a year. There will not be any need to wait for the tenders and other protocols.”

In 2018, three railway foot-over-bridges -- Elphinstone Road, Currey Road and Ambivali station -- were constructed by the Indian Army in less than three months.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Andheri West MLA Ameet Satam, took to Twitter to state that keeping Gokhale Bridge shut for such a long time is not feasible and authorities should invite global tenders to rebuild the bridge in record time. He tagged municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal.

Residents are awaiting a quick plan of action from the government. “The bridge has been shut without a design or plan in place. It would be ideal to conduct a structural audit; if it is sound for a few more months it can be used for school buses or other emergency vehicles,” said Vishal Kukreja, an Andheri resident. “It can be put to stop gradually so that residents can get used to alternate routes.”

On Monday, commuters and residents from Andheri collated a list of suggestions that can ease traffic until the bridge is repaired. These suggestions have been submitted to various authorities like Mumbai Traffic Police, BMC and WR authorities.