Gokhale bridge closure: Whichever route you take adds 1 hour to commute

Shirish Vaktania, Samiullah Khan and Anurag Kamble

UP until last week, it would take about 3 minutes on a two-wheeler to reach Western Express Highway through the Gokhale bridge in Andheri. A car would take 5 minutes, while it took 5 to 7 minutes on a bus. All that changed, for the worse, after the BMC shut the bridge. It now takes an hour for cars and buses for west-east travel, found a test drive by mid-day.

As it announced the closure of the Gokhale bridge, the BMC said the overpass had become unsafe for motorists. The decision also rendered two newly built approach bridges useless, earning the BMC much reprisal from citizens as well as urban planning experts. With the closure of the Gokhale bridge, the west-to-east traffic is diverted from Vile Parle biscuit factory bridge, Captain Vinayak Gore flyover, Milan subway and flyover, Thackeray bridge, Andheri subway and Khar subway.

mid-day found smooth vehicular movement in the vicinity of Gokhale bridge around 8 am. Nowadays, traffic officers said, congestion starts after 10.30 am on SV Road, Link Road and the Western Express Highway. mid-day travelled from Gokhale bridge junction to WEH via Milan flyover, Andheri subway and Vile Parle biscuit factory bridge - via car, bus and bike - for the test drive. Barring bike, the other modes are big a sore point for commuters.

Also read: Gokhale bridge fiasco: Politicians step in, will be hit ya miss?

Amboli Naka-SV Road intersection to Bahar Cinema, Western Express Highway

Distance: 2.9 km
Start time: 11.08 am
Mode: Car
Time taken: 57 minutes

The scene at Amboli junction on SV Road on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

It took about 10 minutes for mid-day's Shirish Vaktania and Sayyed Sameer Abedi to reach from Amboli Naka to the Andheri subway junction where a single lane caters to vehicles on the SV Road, while the other lanes are kept for automobiles using the underpass. From Andheri subway junction to Gokhale bridge junction, it took us 5 minutes and another 5 minutes from Gokhale bridge to Irla signal. However, bumper-to-bumper traffic welcomed us from Irla signal in Vile Parle West. Here too, a single lane has been kept for vehicles using the SV Road, while two lanes are dedicated to traffic moving towards Dada Bhai Road and Vile Parle biscuit factory bridge. It took us 16 minutes from Irla signal to reach Dada Bhai junction. We took 21 more minutes to reach the Vile Parle biscuit factory bridge. After we covered the bridge, it was all clear till WEH. The west-east journey took 57 minutes.

Andheri station (West) to Hanuman Nagar via Milan flyover

Distance: 10 km
Start time: 9.09 am
Mode: Bus
Time taken: 58 minutes

A mid-day reporter boards bus 202 near Andheri station. Pic/Satej Shinde

All the BEST buses which used to take the Gokhale bridge have been diverted. mid-day's Anurag Kamble and Satej Shinde took bus number 202. As there was not much traffic, the bus reached Khira Nagar in 20 minutes. Conductor Amit Dhuri said, "In the morning, the journey is quicker even if the bridge has been closed but it takes more than an hour to complete this journey in the evening." The bus reached Khira Nagar bus stop at 9.29 am. We had to cross the road to take bus number 422 which takes the Milan flyover to reach Vile Parle East. The bus arrived at 9.52 am and it took 10 minutes to reach Hanuman Nagar (WEH) as traffic was thin. We got off the bus at the destination at 10.07 am.

Andheri railway station (West) to Chakala via Milan flyover

Distance: 10 km
Start time: 11.21 am
Mode: Bus
Time taken: 43 minutes

The mid-day team repeated the journey. This time there was traffic at Irla and Milan flyover signals. It took about half an hour to reach Khira Nagar. We crossed the road and reached the other side to board bus number 422. We got a bus at 11.58 am and we reached Bahar Cinema at 12.14 pm without much traffic. The journey took 43 minutes including 10 minutes of waiting time for bus number 422. It was shorter than morning. We found traffic cops at work across the entire stretch.

Gokhale bridge junction on SV road to WEH via Andheri subway

Distance: 1.7 km
Start time: 11.22 am
Mode: Two-wheeler
Time taken: 18 minutes

mid-day's Samiullah Khan (in red bike) near Andheri subway during the test drive on Monday. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar

mid-day's Samiullah Khan and Pradeep Dhivar took 5 minutes to reach the Andheri subway junction from the Gokhale bridge junction. But traffic cops had closed the right turn from SV Road which meant motorists had to take a U-turn from Amboli Naka junction. It took us some more time to reach the Andheri subway junction. In total, we took 11 minutes till Nagardas junction in Andheri East. From this spot till WEH via Andheri-Kurla, it took us 7 more minutes. mid-day spotted many traffic officers and wardens managing vehicular movement on the alternative routes but the load on the roads was too much to avoid a smooth ride. An officer from the DN Nagar traffic police division said, "Thirty-two traffic wardens have been deployed on various routes and 29 traffic police teams are working in peak hours to ease congestion. We have also asked for more traffic wardens."