Flyover closure in Sion to rise commuters' woe

Mumbai: The closure of the Sion flyover for repair and refurbishment work is bound to have a major impact on traffic on the Eastern Express Highway.

Apart from closing the flyover for two months, the authorities will also have to close at least one lane under the flyover.

The work will start from April 20 and will last for two months.  The officials said that after the work begins and the flyover is closed, one lane or a part of the road under it, too, cannot be used for vehicular traffic as girders will be put on it to facilitate removal of old bearings and insert new ones.  

“For the same, a temporary structure will be built on the part of the road under the flyover. It will reduce the width of the road under the Sion flyover. At least one lane will be closed for the traffic,” said an officer from MSRDC.  

According to the traffic police official, the department will issue a notification regarding traffic diversion. “The flyover is a connector between the suburbs and Mumbai city. If the flyover is closed, the vehicles will have to divert from the roads. One lane will be closed definitely and there will be traffic jams,” the official said.  

The MSRDC wanted to carry out the work last year after the structural audit recommended changing of bearings. However, the work could not be started because clearance from the traffic department was pending. The traffic department gave a green signal for the work recently.  

“The repair and refurbishment work is to increase the life of the flyover by 10 to 15 years. There is no other problem with the flyover,” the MSRDC official said.