Mumbai: Iconic Reay Road bridge set to be opened today

Pedestrians wishing to access the cablestayed bridge at Reay Road can do so only from Sant Savta Mali Marg in Byculla East as the new structuremdashunlike its centuryold predecessormdashis not connected to the Reay Road railway station They must also be wary because while the new bridge boats six lanes to accommodate vehicles it lacks footpathsAhmed Memon Byculla residentThe bridge will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at 7 pm on Tuesday From the same venue the chief minister will also remotely inaugurate another road overbridge above railway lines about 65 km away at Titwala Built by the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation MRIDC or Maharail and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC the Reay Road bridge is the cityrsquos first cablestayed road overbridge It was rebuilt in record time after its predecessor was demolished in February 2022 While the new structure was completed in December 2024 the inauguration had to wait for nearly six monthsldquoThe construction work of this cablestayed bridge was started on Valentinersquos Day February 14 2022 and was completed in two years as part of a citywide project to upgrade old bridges in the city Centuryold Britishera bridges have been taken up for reconstruction by the Maharail under agreement with the BMC and Railways as their life span has almost come to an endrdquo an official saidThe Reay Road cablestayed bridge which is to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at 7 pm on Tuesday PICSSHADAB KHANldquoThe bridge structure allows traffic movement through the underpass of Barrister Nath Pai Marg and also maintains the required vertical clearance for passing of vehicles under Eastern Freeway as per Indian Road Congress IRC standards The new cablestayed road overbridge will add more aesthetic appeal to the worldclass heritage structure Additionally MRIDC has designed architectural LED lighting on the bridge which will enhance the aesthetic appeal and also has been designed to improve the safety parameters with a bridge health monitoring systemrdquo he added ldquoAll other approaches are functional and the booking office has also been shifted There will be no inconvenience to commutersrdquo a senior railway official saidAnother misalignmentThe Reay Road bridge however is no longer accessible to pedestrians and commuters via the stationrsquos 115yearold heritage entryexit as the connector dangles about seven feet above the stationrsquos building This situation calls to mind the infamous Barfiwala connector and the Gokhale bridge misalignment The new Gokhale bridge was built by the BMC at an elevated height due to railway regulations creating a gap between it and the Barfiwala flyover After several months of work including raising the Barfiwala flyoverrsquos spans and installing new bearings the bridge was finally realigned with the Gokhale bridgeIrate residentsA Byculla resident Ahmed Memon who first raised the issue said ldquoIt is a complete mess now Commuters coming from Mazagaon Byculla and Darukhana have to take a long detour There is no access point from the bridge to Reay Road station which people have had for decadesrdquo Zoru Bhathena an activist said ldquoIt is surprising that a bridge is being inaugurated three months after it was completed More surprisingly there is no way for pedestrians to access the Reay Road station ticket counter from the new bridge It appears that our authorities are only focused on cars and have forgotten about rail commuters and pedestriansrdquoThe structure which was built in two years is not connected to the 115yearold railway stationVedant Mhatre programme director of Walking Project an advocacy group said ldquoIt is frustrating to see that a bridge in 2025 doesnrsquot include a footpath Many bridges across the city are undergoing redevelopment and one after another footpaths are either being narrowed to the extent that two people canrsquot walk side by side comfortably or are being completely removed This is the case at the Gokhale bridge and Delisle bridge There are several other bridges under construction across the city and we are extremely concerned that footpaths are being shortchanged to accommodate additional lanes mdash a deeply autocentric approach in a city where less than 15 per cent of people own vehicles and more than 60 per cent walkrdquoVedant Mhatre programme director Walking ProjectHe added ldquoWe have been in communication with people within the BMC about this issue over the last six months but the justifications wersquove received for the removal of footpaths have been unsatisfactory Often Britishera bridges have much wider footpaths than new ones I urge readers to visit the Britishera Mahalaxmi or Dadar Tilak flyovers to see the difference for themselves Has the population gone down Has pedestrian traffic reduced to an extent that justifies cutting back footpaths in this manner Certainly not Soon we will be submitting a letter to the BMC requesting a review of this policy of reducing or removing footpaths from urban bridges With many major bridges under reconstruction or newly built it is essential that footpaths be included so that pedestrians have a comfortable and confusionfree right of passage along all urban roads without being forced to find alternative bridges which often donrsquot exist No other city is reducing pedestrian space simply to make more room for vehicles especially when we already lack adequate parking for them Mumbai cannot afford to keep pushing pedestrians to the marginsrdquoOfficial SpeakAdditional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar told midday on Monday night that the bridge and railway station would be integrated ldquoThe heritage ticket booking office at Reay Road station will be restored above the new foot overbridge just adjacent to the cablestayed bridge Drawings of this have been approved by Central 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