Soft Launch, Hard Impact: Vikhroli Bridge Quietly Joins Mumbai’s Commute Map

Mumbai's much-awaited Vikhroli East-West Connector bridge opened to traffic at 4 PM on June 14, 2025—without an opening ceremony. The call, made by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and city officials, was to prioritize commuter convenience during the current monsoon and recent city tragedies and have a low-key, unpublicized opening to prevent delays and congestion.

 

Key Highlights:

 

•⁠  ⁠The 615 meters long, 12-meter wide bridge connects Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg (Vikhroli West) to the Eastern Express Highway (Vikhroli East), giving a direct path which reduces travel time from 30 minutes to just 7 minutes.

 

•⁠  ⁠Constructed with four automobile lanes and separate pedestrian walkways, it's the nation's longest open-web-girder bridge over railway tracks, finished after almost 28 years of planning and successive delays in the project.

The bridge will ease chronic congestion in the area, especially during monsoon, and is expected to serve thousands of commuters on a daily basis.

 

•⁠  ⁠Political officials rushed to claim credit, but the focus was on the timely completion of the bridge for the public's benefit, with no fanfare or ribbon-cutting.

 

Outlook:

 

The Vikhroli bridge opening is a significant step in Mumbai's infrastructure growth. In the midst of the peak monsoon season, the new connector will bring long-term relief to citizens and commuters alike, setting a model for people-centric governance. 

 

Source: Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Free Press Journal