Work on JVPD flyover to start in Oct: BMC
Construction of the much-awaited 1.65 kilometre flyover between Juhu Versova Link Road (JVLR) and Mayor Hall near the CD Barfiwala flyover is expected to commence in October, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials said.
The civic body floated a ₹350 crore tender on August 8.
The flyover, once built, is expected to reduce travel time from Juhu circle to Western Express Highway (WEH) from 45 minutes to five minutes. The bridge will start where the Barfiwala flyover ends and have a staggered landing at Balasaheb Sawant Marg on JVLR.
“The JVPD flyover will start from where one arm of Barfiwala flyover ends, go past Airport land (in Andheri), exit at Link Road and end at Balasaheb Sawant Marg at Juhu Versova Link Road in Andheri. This will ease the congestion at JVPD circle which is one of the biggest junctions in Mumbai,” said Satish Thosar, chief engineer, Bridges department.
“There is an upcoming connection from Juhu Versova Road to the Coastal Road. So, vehicles coming from the Coastal Road will have direct access to WEH and vice-versa. Otherwise, those vehicles would again cause traffic jams at JVPD junction. This flyover is expected to reduce travel time from 45 minutes to five minutes,” he said.
Thosar added that 50% of the amount will be paid at the start of the project.
“We are providing an additional access, entry and exit near Gulmohur Road in Juhu for those coming from Versova or Andheri west. Commuters from Andheri west who want to go to Juhu-Versova will not need to traverse Juhu circle,” he said.
It may be recalled that the project was mentioned in the budget 2022, presented by municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal to the civic standing committee on February 3, with a budget outlay of ₹1,576.66 crore for the Bridges department. However, commuters may still have to wait a while for a seamless ride in the western suburbs. The JVPD flyover project is expected to take three years for completion. A couple of other infrastructure projects in the vicinity are also underway.Once completed, commuters will be able to skip the congested JVPD signal (also called Juhu circle), as they would be able to take the CD Barfiwala flyover, go past Gokhale road bridge ( this work is still in progress and is expected to be completed in December), use the Telli Gully flyover in Andheri (expected to open soon) and reach the WEH — all within in five minutes.
The JVPD flyover project has been in the pipeline since 2019. Earlier this year, the BMC agreed to pay ₹ 11 crore to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for right of way through their land in Andheri, after the AAI gave its green signal.“The AAI land was difficult to acquire during pandemic and the process of handing over was on since 2019. AAI said they will give us right of way,” a civic official said.