Many new bridges to soon come up in Mumbai, but will they ease congestion?

The city and suburbs are getting new elevated connectors to improve eastwest connectivitymdashlong in demand and now finally taking shape But with no coordination or planning with local traffic authorities and stakeholders these roadoverbridges may become red zones on Google Maps turning into traffic gridlocks instead of seamless connectorsAre they solutions or hubs of elevated chaos Locals are asking While the good news is that some of these bridges will open as early as this year with others following in the next two years concerns remain about whether they will ease congestion or create new choke pointsmidday takes a look at key bridges that will undoubtedly enhance connectivity but could also become bottlenecks due to poor planning and the lack of coordination with local traffic police The influx of new vehicles at already jammed junctions raises red flags Vidyavihar BridgeVidyavihar bridge on west side on Mar 19 PicSayyed Sameer AbediSlated to open by mid2026 this eastwest bridge near Vidyavihar station could create fresh bottlenecks The biggest trouble spots will be the Rajawadi junction on MG Road and the Tilak Nagar junction Though the BMC aims to improve connectivity between the Eastern Express Highway Ghatkopar Mahul Road and LBS Road the influx of traffic could lead to severe congestion on either side of the stationRavi Mahadik residentldquoThe new Vidyavihar connector will help ease traffic on Ghatkoparrsquos Haweli Bridge and serve as an alternative to the ChemburSantacruz Link Road However it may also create a major bottleneck at Sindhu Society on MG Road and increase congestion on Nathani Road The BMC should take preventive measures during the bridge construction to mitigate these issuesrdquo New Byculla BridgeThe new cablestayed bridge at Byculla in Mumbai on March 18 PicSayyed Sameer AbediThe railways and the BMC are working on a new cablestayed eastwest bridge at Byculla but traffic woes loom On the west side congestion is expected in front of the fire brigade head office due to narrow roads while on the east traffic volume will surge The construction is planned in two stages first a parallel bridge will be built without disturbing the existing one Once operational the old bridge will be reconstructed temporarily diverting traffic to the new structure Madhuri Mohan Pednekar teacher and primary section incharge at Hume High School BycullaldquoDue to the ongoing bridge work traffic congestion has worsened Even if we leave home on time we still struggle to reach school on time The situation is chaotic and with poorly planned landings things will only get worserdquoVikhroli EastWest ConnectorUnderconstruction bridge at Vikhroli West PicAnurag AhireExpected to open in 2025 this bridge will connect the Eastern Express Highway to LBS Road but is likely to bring traffic chaos on both ends At the Vikhroli station road junction vehicles from the east will flood the area leading to long queues and jams In the east the Tagore Nagar junction will also see heavy congestion as vehicles descending from the bridge will intersect with crosstraffic creating a messy gridlockGeorge Swamy residentldquoIf corrective action isnrsquot taken now new eastwest bridge in Vikhroli will create traffic chaos on both sides In the west congestion will worsen at the LBS junction due to ongoing Metro work the skywalk and existing vehicle movement In the east vehicles descending from the bridge will likely slow down near the junction of Tagore Nagar Kannamwar Nagar and the Eastern Express Highway A proper traffic management plan must be put in place before the bridge opensrdquo SCLR North Extension to Santacruz JunctionCrucial construction of a girder over northbound stretch of KalinaVakola flyover on WEH was completed on Feb 4 File PicAshish RajeSet to open in 2025 this bridge will land near the Panbai International School junction on the Western Express Highway in Santacruz Instead of easing traffic it is likely to worsen the congestion at an already chaotic junction creating a major bottleneck for freeflowing vehiclesDhaval Shah president Lokhandwala Oshiwara Citizens Association LOCAldquoThere are many instances where public infrastructure projects have caused more chaos instead of solving the problems they were intended to address A prime example is the bridge passing over Telli Galli Junction in Andheri East which suffers from poor planning The bridge should have had an additional landfall point across the Western Express Highway to prevent the traffic buildup it now causes during peak hours The BMC should conduct public hearings for such projects similar to the Metro authorities to ensure they align with real commuter needs Itrsquos good to see midday highlighting the issue of poorly planned infrastructure projectsrdquoCops SpeakldquoThe construction of the SCLR arm passing over WEH and heading towards the domestic airport will benefit commuters and motorists using the flyover However we anticipate traffic congestion where the flyover lands on the northbound stretch of WEHrdquo said a traffic police officialldquoVikhroli bridge lands in a chaotic area it will cause problems if a new signalised junction is not introduced at the LBS junction On the eastern side there will be a bottleneck We have written to BMC to initiate the process We are also planning a consultation meeting with the BMCrdquo said an official from Ghatkopar traffic branch