Motagaon-Mankoli bridge 80 per cent complete, expected to be opened to traffic by April 2023

Dombivli With 80 per cent work on the long-awaited six-lane Motagaon (Dombivli) – Mankoli (Bhiwandi) bridge is completed, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is pushing to finish the project by April 2023 and open the bridge for vehicular traffic. This will lead to a major relief on traffic congestion for those commuting between Dombivli–Thane and other nearby cities.

With the completion of the bridge the travel time between Dombivli - Bhiwandi – Thane and nearby cities is expected to be cut down to 15 minutes.

“The work on the bridge is 80 per cent complete and is inching towards completion. The vital project for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) over the Ulhas creek will divert traffic and provide easy connectivity,” said an officer of MMRDA.

In a meeting held earlier this month the MMRDA discussed the major projects across the MMR that will help ease congestion. This particular bridge was one of the projects which was put on high priority list.

The work on the bridge began in February 2017 and was scheduled to be ready in two years’ time. However, land acquisition hurdles at Mankoli caused delay in the project. The work has got a push in last two years and should be completed in over six months, according to officials.

Currently, there are two routes one could take to get to Mumbai. First one is from Dombivli - Shilphata - Mumbra- Thane -Mulund – NH3 - Mumbai Fort and second one is the Dombivli - Kalyan (Shivaji Chowk)- Bhiwandi bypass - NH3 – Mumbai Fort. This particular route becomes a long-distance travel for most of the people in Dombivli for which they have been demanding an alternative.

With the new bridge, vehicles from Dombivli will be diverted to this bridge and thus reducing the vehicular movement on the two regular routes.

“If I have to go to Thane from Dombivli, I take the Bhiwandi bypass road which is mostly congested during the peak hours. Sometimes I am stuck in the traffic for two long hours. The other route via Shilphata is also congested. The best option for a person from Dombivli is to take this short cut of the new bridge and reach the Thane or other nearby cities,” said Rohit Poojari, 36, a daily commuter who travels to Thane for work from Dombivli.

The bridge will reduce the distance by around 27km, by connecting Dombivli to Bhiwandi, leading to Thane, Mumbai and NH 3.

This will save at least one hour of the travel time for Dombivli residents travelling towards Mumbai, Nashik and Ahmedabad.

“Connecting to your workplace in just 15 minutes will be such a relief. The roads are riddled with potholes. The new bridge will ensure we have a safe and smooth ride,” said Sanjay Mehta, 30, another commuter.

“Most vehicles from Dombivli will be diverted to this bridge and this will help us control the traffic movement on the usual route. The bridge is need of the hour as most days there is heavy traffic on the alternative two routes,” said DCP (Traffic), Thane, Datta Kamble.