The Sion Road Over Bridge (ROB) is closed from today, January 17 for the construction of the 5th and 6th railway lines. Traffic Police officials said that all vehicles will be diverted elsewhere. The Central Railway (CR) decided to demolish Sion bridge to create space for 5th and 6th railway lines.
Sion ROB is a crucial one as it connects the eastern and western suburbs. As a result, the lives of people making a commute via this bridge will be affected.
The Mumbai Traffic Police has a plan to help motorists. They have installed diversion sign boards that indicate ‘where to divert’ near the entry and exit points of the bridge.
The three main diversion routes from where motorists can travel instead of Sion RoB to reach their destinations are:
Santacruz-Chembur Link Road via Kurla, joining the Eastern Express Highway
Sion Hospital Road via the Sulochana Shetty Marg, connecting to Dr. BA Road to Kumbharwada in Dharavi
Chunabhatti-Bandra Kurla Complex Connector (no two-wheelers and three-wheelers are allowed on this route).
Matunga Traffic Police Department said that from their division, they have 50 wardens who will be available on the ground, along with the traffic personnel. Together, they will keep clearing the traffic to make sure there are no disruptions. They will work together for the first 10 days. After 10 days, the decision to continue with this plan will depend on the traffic flow and whether or not things are manageable.
A maximum of fifty traffic wardens would be deployed by other divisions, which include Mahim, Chunabhatti, BKC, Chembur, Dharavi, etc., within their respective jurisdictional boundaries. The shutdown of the ROB would result in high traffic on the Dr. BA Road, which links Sion to Dharavi and further afield.
An official said that Dr. BA Road is broad enough to handle high traffic, but they don't want to take the chance, so the entire road has been declared a strictly no-parking area. They have requested cooperation from the residential dwellings and properties along the road, at least during the beginning phases.
Due to the relatively narrow roadways further along Sulochana Shetty Marg, which stretch towards Dharavi, it is impossible to accommodate all of the traffic. Along with encroachment, there are other residential buildings and parking spaces that could impede traffic flow. Thus, that area is now off-limits to parking as well. Traffic police cautioned that anyone discovered to be breaking the rules would face consequences.
Traffic from Sion will be redirected to the central suburbs via the Eastern Express Highway. This might affect traffic or create issues at SCLR.
Apart from this traffic diversion, at least 20 Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus routes will be changed due to bridge demolition. Routes for five buses will be terminated near the bridge. Routes of 15 buses will be diverted from the Chunabhatti BKC connector and Pila Bungalow. Residents of Mumbai are demanding from BEST to come up with new bus routes from Sion station’s west side to south Mumbai, western, and eastern suburbs.
Given that the Sion rail over the bridge is a major junction, hundreds of commuters from Dharavi rely on BEST buses. The introduction of new routes from Sion Station would greatly facilitate people who commute via this route.
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