The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority(MMRDA) has issued three tenders inviting agencies for the construction of linkway Foot Over Bridges (FOBs) at Metro Line 7 (Dahisar East--Andheri East). The nominated stations where these FOBs will be built at Gunadavli in Andheri East, Aarey and Goregoan East. Interested agencies can submit online bids from April 23 till 3 pm. Also, a pre-bid meeting through video conference has been organised on April 6.
Reportedly, the MMRDA intends to start the commercial operations of Metro Line 2A(Dahisar to DN Nagar) and 7 (Dahisar East --Andheri East) by this year. Soon trial runs will be started. The first indigenous metro rake has already reached Mumbai and parked at Charkop Metro depot. Since, the operations of both these lines to begin soon, now MMRDA is focussing on other developments so to improve last-mile connectivity. As part of this plan, the linkway FOBs have been proposed.
According to officials, the FOBs will ensure smooth and safe dispersal of traffic on highways coming out of metro stations. As line 7 passes from Western Express Highway (WEH) the linkway FOBs will prove to be essential connectivity. It will prevent traffic obstruction and untoward accidents on the said highway especially.
Interestingly, the MMRDA had also offered developers to build FOBs connecting to their projects such as Malls, offices, commercial and residential buildings. The idea is to provide direct connectivity to the non-ticketing area of the nearby metro station and in return, it will make some revenue. However, the design of such FOBs will be finalised by MMRDA only and the cost will be borne by the selected developer. A policy regarding the same has also been formulated.
Reportedly, at Aarey station and Poisar station, two developers have obtained approvals for such FOBs. At present, due to pandemic, the response from developers for the construction of FOBs linking other Metro stations has received a cold response. However, it is confident that once the situation becomes normal, a favorable response will be received.
