Title - Milan rail over bridge to open to traffic this month: MMRDA

Getting to SV Road from highway via Milan over bridge will be cumbersome

MUMBAI: Motorists in the western suburbs have a reason to cheer this monsoon: Heavy water-logging at the Milan subway will no longer cause an inconvenience, thanks to the Milan rail over bridge (RoB), which is set to open this month.

According to the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the 700-metre RoB is finally ready for traffic will be ready for traffic by the end of this month. Sharad Sabnis, chief engineer of MMRDA, said, “Construction of the RoB is complete and final touches are being given. It will be ready for traffic by the end of this month.”

Every monsoon, motorists find it very difficult to commute through the Milan subway as even slightly heavy rainfall leads to water logging.

Now motorists can save up to 20 minutes using the RoB while commuting between SV Road and the Western Express Highway (WEH). But commuters from the WEH will have to take roundabout routes to reach SV Road (see graphic).

Motorists from Bandra will have to take a left turn at the airport junction to reach the Dayaldas road and then travel back to the service road leading to the RoB. Motorists from Andheri will have to turn right at Nehru road below the airport flyover to reach the Dayaldas road and then travel back to a service road to reach the RoB.

To get to the WEH from the RoB, motorists will have to exit the service road just before the airport flyover and take the WEH towards Andheri. Those headed towards Bandra will have to take a U-turn at the airport junction. The MMRDA is planning to construct a new junction so motorists can take a U-turn without congesting traffic. But the new junction will be constructed only after studying traffic patterns in the next few months.

The MMRDA has also planned two traffic signals, one at the Dayaldas road and another where the service road connects with the WEH, to reduce traffic congestion.