Mumbai: Sion flyover to be fixed only on weekends

Starting Feb 14, the 1.1-km-long bridge will be closed for traffic only four days a week, from Friday to Monday morning

Commuters who take the busy Sion Circle flyover to work every day will be relieved to hear that MSRDC has decided to shut the important connector for repairs only on weekends, starting February 14. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation had earlier planned to shut the bridge for 45 consecutive days from January 25, but there has been a change in the plan.

Now, the 1.1-km-long Sion flyover will be closed to traffic at 10 pm every Thursday till April end — which is MSRDC's deadline to complete the work to replace the ball bearings. Motorists will be allowed to the use the bridge on the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road again from 6 am on Mondays.

The first traffic block will begin on a Friday, i.e. February 14, and the flyover will be thrown open to public on Monday, February 17. The new schedule will ensure no obstruction in traffic flow as thousands of office-goers take the Sion flyover that connects the Eastern Express Highway and Sion-Panvel Expressway to the city.

MSRDC, in its press release, said, "The work to replace the ball bearings of Sion flyover starts on February 14 after permission from the traffic police division. As it's an arterial flyover, the traffic police division gave the permission to shut it for only four days a week.

"Every week, from Thursday to Monday, the bridge will remain closed for traffic. The repair work will be completed by April end," said S Sontakke, senior engineer, MSRDC. PWD Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the authorities to ensure the repair work is completed at the earliest. Additional traffic police will oversee the work and around 30 traffic wardens will be deployed to ensure there are no traffic jams.

The Sion flyover repair work will start after a delay of over six months, caused because the MSRDC needed to acquire ball bearings and jacks from Nashik and Hyderabad, which were being manufactured.

Alternative routes you can take

Motorists travelling to and from south Mumbai using Dr Ambedkar Road can take the Sion-Panvel Highway stretch between Sion and Chunnabhatti, those who take Santacruz-Chembur Link Road are advised to use Eastern Freeway to avoid getting stuck in jams. Also, people heading to the western suburbs via Dr Ambedkar Road can use the Sion-Dharavi link road.

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