Mumbai: New bridge over Vasai creek opens after a decade of misery

A decade of misery to cross the Vasai creek on the Mumbai-Surat highway has ended with the new creek bridge opened for vehicular traffic.

Nitin Gadkari makes the announcement

The announcement was made by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari. He posted on a micro-blogging site, “Starting from March 27, we will be opening a recently constructed 918mt balanced cantilever bridge on Varsova creek, consisting of four lanes, which will provide significant traffic relief to the Mumbai-Surat corridor, particularly across the Varsova creek.” The total length of the bridge is 2.25km, including the bridge span of 918mt and 1.33km approach road.

Mumbai is an island metropolis and Vasai creek is one of the water bodies to be crossed for unhindered connection with the rest of the country, making smooth access crucial for economic activity.

Section of bridge was shut for traffic after cracks started appearing on girder, was reopened with cap on load

The trouble while crossing the creek began a decade ago, in December 2013, when cracks were spotted on the girder of the old bridge. Thereafter, a section of the bridge was out of bounds for traffic and the one kept open was only for light vehicles. It reopened in mid-2014 but there was a cap on maximum load of 15 tonnes on the bridge. Any vehicle weighing beyond this limit had to take a detour via Kaman-Kharbao-Bhiwandi.

Traffic snarls were a major issue

Ever since, the traffic snarls have not ended for motorists and consume up to 90 minutes to cross the Fountain Inn Junction in any of the directions – Mumbai, Surat, Thane or Ghodbunder Village. As this traffic intersection is part of the Mumbai-Surat National Highway or National Highway 8, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) took up the task to erect a new four-lane creek bridge.

The foundation stone was laid in January 2018 to construct it at an estimated cost of ₹247 crore.