By Apurva Bhatt
In a relief to commuters, the north-bound arm of Kherwadi flyover, the construction of which was causing constant traffic snarls on the arterial road, will be open from April 19.
The south-bound arm of this Rs 22-crore flyover was thrown open to public in June, 2014. “Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will inaugurate the flyover on Sunday at 10 am,” said DIlip Kawathkar, spokesperson for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
With the north-bound arm open, the flyover will have three lanes each, for north and south-bound commuters. It will not only reduce travel time and fuel cost, but also decongest Kherwadi and Kalanagar junctions. The 580-meter flyover is the last link in the Western Express Highway, which will now provide a signal free ride from Bandra to Dahisar.
Traffic on the Kherwadi stretch had been temporarily diverted to the 600-metre stretch on the service road on the west side of the highway, while one lane of the southbound flyover was kept open for northbound traffic during peak hours. Given the traffic pressure, the Kherwadi flyover is one of the fastest projects to be implemented. The north-bound arm, the construction of which started in October 2014, was completed in six months, while the south-bound arm was completed in a little over seven months.
The advantage in the construction of the north-bound arm was that the precast girders (concrete blocks) for four of the five spans had already been casted at the Wadala casting yard. This arm comprises a total of 25 precast girders, out of which 20 girders were ready prior to the start of the project.
