As both infrastructure projects have the same alignment near Bhandup's LBS road, the BMC will construct its piers for the flyover, whereas the MMRDA will do it for metro on the same road
A civic official said the GMLR piers will be constructed slightly at a right angle to the Metro piers so that they don't touch each other. Pic for representation
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It's official. Metro Line 4 will go over the '2000-crore Goregaon-Mulund Link Road (GMLR). The '14,549-crore Wadala-Kasarvadavli Metro line 4 was thought of as a threat to the GMLR project, as the alignment of both projects goes over the arterial LBS Road in the eastern suburbs. Now the two agencies have come up with a solution to this: The Metro will be constructed by MMRDA over the GMLR.
Above each other
As both infrastructure projects have the same alignment near Bhandup's LBS road, the BMC will construct its piers for the flyover, whereas the MMRDA will do it for metro on the same road. A civic official said, "Projects can be constructed on the same alignment, 6 to 8 metres above each other. However for GMLR, piers will be constructed slightly at a right angle to the Metro piers so that the two don't touch each other. By doing this the cost estimation of the two also remains the same."
The two agencies have discussed the possibility of height difference in the past so that neither of the projects is affected. While the Metro is said to cut travel time and give commuters an option to travel faster, the GMLR is aimed at solving the east-west connectivity woes of commuters travelling by private vehicles.
PRK Murthy, director (Projects) Metro, MMRDA was not available for comment. Sanjay Mukherjee, additional municipal commissioner, however, confirmed that the two are working in coordination.
The 3.5km extension of the Jogeshwari flyover between SV Road and Poonam Nagar is also likely to be completed using the same model of height elevation, revealed sources.
But while the BMC and MMRDA have managed to come up with a solution for these two ambitious projects, its plans for other flyovers have been affected.
Flyovers scrapped
The proposed five flyovers on Link Road between Andheri and Dahisar were scrapped, and now even the JVPD flyover at Andheri is likely to be scrapped.
Another flyover which is partly complete, which connects Jogeshwari East to West, has been delayed by more than a year because of the Lokhandwala-Vikhroli metro line.
Rs 2k-cr
Cost of the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road
Rs 14k-cr
Cost of the Wadala- Kasarvadavli Metro Line 4