The construction of the Mothagaon-Mankoli bridge, connecting Dombivli and Bhiwandi, will be completed by the end of this month. Sources shared that bitumen laying work is in the final stages, thereafter, lane marking and related works is to be carried out.
Inauguration likely next month
The inauguration ceremony is likely to be held next month. Once open for public use, the bridge will drastically cut the travel time to just 15 minutes from more than an hour. This will not only benefit local commuters but also will significantly help motorists from Thane and Mumbai as the bridge goes over the Ulhas Creek, reducing the overall road distance.
With its opening, the vehicular movement on the existing two routes is also expected to reduce. The bridge has been designed to reduce the travel distance by about 27 km. At the moment, there are two routes to travel towards Thane or Mumbai. The first is via Dombivli to Shilphata to Mumbra to Thane and then to Mulund. The alternate route is from Dombivli to Kalyan to Bhiwandi Bypass and then over to National Highway 3 that heads towards Mumbai.
Construction work began in 2017
Construction work on the project took off in February 2017, with the then scheduled deadline of mid-2019. “It was due to land acquisition related challenges on the Mankoli side of the project that caused the delay,” said an MMRDA official. During the planning and tendering stage in 2017, the project’s cost was estimated at ₹223 crore. However, owing to the delay in execution, the cost has shot up as well.
The MMRDA is also planning to construct a portion of Kalyan ring road to connect Mothagaon bridge with Durgadi (at Govindwadi) in Kalyan. Till the time this 5.86-km-long section of the ring road gets ready, the motorists will have to continue using the narrow two lane Reti Bunder bridge and 90 Feet Road to reach Durgadi.
Project cost at ₹425 crore
The development authority has estimated the cost of this project at ₹425 crore. The expenditure is high because a portion of the road will be on stilts.
