4-year-old GMLR flyover now being linked to Sion-Panvel highway with additional arms
Mumbai: Just a few years after the Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road (GMLR) flyover was opened, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has now embarked on building an additional two arms to connect it with the Sion-Panvel Highway, at a cost of ₹1,051 crore. With it, vehicles coming to and from Vashi to the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) will be able to zip past the often congested T-junction signal near Maharashtra Nagar in Govandi.
A third arm of the flyover is also being planned, which will directly connect GMLR to Maharashtra Nagar. However, the BMC is waiting for a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Central Railway, as this proposed flyover arm will go over the Harbour line. Once cleared, a tender will be floated, which will add to the cost. The flyover arm will be 620 metres long and 8.5 metres high.
Currently, vehicles coming via the EEH or from Ghatkopar take the GMLR flyover until the T-junction signal near Maharashtra Nagar, where they have to stop before turning onto the Sion Panvel Highway towards Vashi, and vice versa. The two flyover arms under construction will bypass the signal, directly connecting both flyovers.
After the tendering process was done in September 2024, construction of the two additional arms next to the GMLR flyover began in January this year, said an official from the BMC's bridges department. Work besides the Sion Panvel Highway is yet to start, as an NOC from the public works department (PWD), under whom the highway falls, has only recently come in. Permissions from the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority and Mangroves Department were also taken, as the bridge's pillars fall in a wetland and near mangroves.
Alongside, the BMC is also acquiring additional land as the bridge's alignment coincides with the proposed metro line between the Mumbai airport and the upcoming Navi Mumbai airport. 'To solve the issue, Cidco requisitioned some additional land and, hence, we are carrying out the land acquisition for the same,' said the official. Cidco, short for the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra, is Navi Mumbai's planning authority.
As for the need for these additional arms to the flyover, there is little refuting the traffic at the T-junction.
'There definitely is traffic while coming from Vashi towards Ghatkopar, especially at peak times, making vehicles wait for 15 to 20 minutes at the signal,' said Powai-resident Rahul, who travels often to Vashi. 'The opposite direction is better, and a free left would go a long way to help.'
'There is a tremendous amount of traffic at that junction, made worse by the poor condition of the Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road flyover and the heavy vehicles plying on it,' said Aun Mohammed, a resident of Govandi, who travels to Vashi on a bike frequently. 'It's also a hotspot for accidents.'
Yet, commuters have questioned why this direct connection between the two flyovers, intended to ease connectivity between the eastern suburbs and Navi Mumbai, was not planned earlier. 'The traffic at the junction is not a new problem,' said Rahul. 'So when the Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road flyover was opened up only a few years ago, in 2021, this should have ideally been included in its design. This is terrible planning by the BMC. Now, we will have to suffer through another few years of construction.'
Abid Abbas Sayyed, a lawyer based in Govandi, also questioned this. 'Now, the BMC is spending an additional ₹1,000-odd crore of public money on these two arms, which should have been initially included.'
Sayyed added that the construction work beside the GMLR has crunched the space on the road below, adding traffic for locals and those not using the bridge. 'With heavy vehicles plying, traffic under is even worse,' he said.
In defence, the BMC official said, 'We carry out works in a phase-wise manner. The Ghatkopar Mankhurd Link Road flyover was a huge and crucial project, at around 3.25 km long with six lanes. If we had done both things together, it would have been too much and caused chaos, as a lot of vehicles using it come from afar, even Pune.'
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