Signature Bridge to open for public from October 31

New Delhi: The Delhi government’s ambitious Signature Bridge project, which has already missed several deadlines, is expected to be opened for the public by October 31.

Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who inspected the site of the bridge on Saturday, said that 98 per cent of the construction work has been completed and the rest is progressing at a fast pace.

The government has released the final installment of Rs 200 crore to complete the project. The iconic bridge was earlier expected to be completed by June, but the construction work could not be completed in time.

Now, the deputy chief minister has asserted th-at the much-delayed project will be opened by Oct-ober end. Mr Sisodia said that both the Signature Bridge and the skywalk at ITO will be completed by October.

Once completed, it will share the burden of vehi-cular traffic currently being borne solely by the two-lane Wazirabad brid-ge, which is the main acc-ess route between the No-rth and northeast Delhi and adjacent Ghaziabad. Signature Bridge will connect Outer Ring Road on the western bank with Wazirabad Road on the eastern side of the Yam-una.The bridge aims to reduce the travel time between the North and northeast Delhi by improving traffic movement on the Ring Road. Those commuting from ISBT Kashmere Gate and Timarpur to the areas such as Khajuri Khas and towards Ghaziabad and Sahibababad will benefit the most.  

The bridge was first conceptualised in 2004 and received a nod from the then Delhi cabinet in 2007. It was supposed to be completed ahead of the Commonwealth Games hosted by the national capital in 2010 but the deadline was revised to 2013. The initial budget of the bridge was Rs 400 crore but so far Rs 1,518 crore have been spent on the project. It will be the country’s first asymmetrical bridge supported by the cables, which will be 675 m in long and 35.2 m wide. The pylon, which is 154 m in height has already been constructed.