Thane Creek Bridge to open soon

PHOTOS: Raju Shinde

MUMBAI: As the 10-day long Ganpati festival comes to an end, a new beginning will be made for harried commuters travelling to and from Navi Mumbai with the opening of one of the two Thane Creek bridges, bringing relief to thousands of motorists caught daily in traffic jams.

The bridge spans 1.84 km with cumulative approach roads of 1.22 km. New toll booths have also been constructed. “The north-bound carriageway (Mumbai to Navi Mumbai) is ready and final touches are being given. We plan to open this carriageway, having three lanes, later this month,” said an MSRDC official.

MSRDC sources said that the bridge may be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he visits Mumbai to flag off the Aarey to Bandra Kurla Complex underground Mumbai Metro 3 project.

After the opening, the total lanes would increase to nine. In February 2025, when the south bound carriageway is commissioned, the total number of lanes would become 12, with six in each direction.

Of the 488 segments that will form the south-bound carriageway, 366 have been launched and installed. The balance 122 segments will be launched over the next three months. In engineering parlance, segment in a bridge is the bridge in piecemeal, as compared to the traditional method of casting very large sections at a remote location and transporting these to the bridge site. So far, 1.18 km of the 122-km approach road is ready.

Currently, motorists can use only one bridge - at the Vashi end - to go to the island metropolis. As a result, the six-lane (three in each direction) bridge witnesses traffic congestion and bottlenecks.

It was constructed in 1997. Prior to this, a 1973-built bridge was in use which weak structure could no longer take any more load. It was then mostly used by filmmakers to shoot movie scenes. With the population burgeoning in the satellite city, it became necessary to augment more lanes. Hence, a decision was taken by the authorities to construct the twin creek bridges.

The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) started work on the twin bridges in 2020 through Larsen & Toubro at an estimated cost of ₹559 crore.