Kopri bridge to be shut on Jan 23

THANE: Commuters taking the Kopri bridge after 9pm this weekend will have to take a diversion as it’ll be shut for laying of six more girders by central railway over railway lines.

The north-bound route from Airoli junction to Eastern Express Highway (EEH) towards Thane and LBS Marg will be closed for all types of heavy vehicles on January 23 and 24 from 9pm to ease the peak-hour congestion. The light vehicles, on the other hand, can enter Thane through Modella toll plaza via the eastwest flyover in Mulund.

Balasaheb Patil, DCP, Traffic, said, “We are expecting some congestion for the initial two hours due to the closure of the bridge. We will have to rope in additional staff for two hours. We believe the diversions are sufficient for the light vehicles and we shall be able to manage without any major hurdle.”

The CR, too, has imposed a night block and cancelled a few trains.

Last weekend, the MMRDA launched seven girders along this route. They have completed almost 70 per cent work in their designated area. The girders that will be launched this weekend are 63m long and 102 tons in weight. As these are very heavy, the railways will make use of a crane that can balance the weight of around 1,000 tons.

The Kopri ROB is on the EEH. The eight-lane EEH turns into two lanes on this bridge leading to a bottle neck during peak hours. Widening the bridge will resolve the peakhour congestion, giving relief to people going towards Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mumbai.

A shadow block will also take place at Atgaon station for launching of girders for a Foot Over Bridge on down line from 2.20am to 6.20am on January 24.

This will impact suburban local services from 12:40am to 5am on January 24.

Girder at Kopri bridge, Thane.