Ahmedabad-West likely to get a new east-west flyover this month

Ahmedabad, 22 January 2014

The city of Ahmedabad, particularly the western part of the city is no more the same. If you want to drive from Paldi to SG highway in the evening time, you face traffic jam of 5-15 minutes at almost every junction. It takes an hour to cross the distance of about 7 kms.

In recent years, several north-south flyovers like Shyamaprasad Mukherjee flyover at Jivraj Park, Sam Manekshaw flyover at Shivaranjani, Helmet flyover on Drive-In road are constructed, but there’s not a single east-west flyover barring one near Gujarat College which was recently opened for traffic.

It’s a matter of great relief that the western part of the city will finally get this east-west direction flyover this month.

The flyover is likely to be ready for inauguration this month. Leader of opposition Badruddin Sheikh has demanded the flyover to be named after Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad. However, along with several other names, the government is also thinking about the option to name it after Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai.

The 551-metre-long flyover is located on IIM road. On one side is IIM gate, while on the other side is IIM new campus’s gate. Blind Men’s Association and Ahmedabad University buildings occupy the other side of the flyover.

The work on the bridge started on July 30 in 2012 with a deadline of 15 months. It was expected to be ready by October last year. But the project missed the deadline as pile testing and dynamic testing was delayed. A new deadline of January 26 was set thereafter.

The estimated cost of the construction was Rs 38.69 crore. It’s a two-lane bridge built by Dineshchandra R Agrawal Infracon Pvt Ltd.

The bridge may cause traffic jam at some distance from its western end due to narrow road passing through Vastrapur gaam. The AMC will have to take action to widen this road stretch after opening of the flyover.