Vehicles moving along the railway over bridge at Shantinagar. Captured by : Vikram Nayak
VASCO
Panchayats Minister and Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho on Tuesday said the Shantinagar Railway bridge connecting New Vaddem to the highway leading to the Goa Airport would be closed down for about 6-8 months and will be strengthened and widened to thrice its size.
"We have seen that there is always a huge traffic jam along this narrow railway overbridge during peak hours and this causes massive traffic congestion. We had proposed to have a parallel railway overbridge near the existing one so that each bridge could have one-way traffic,” said Godinho, while speaking to reporters.
“The Railways technically examined our proposal but they said it is not possible for the new bridge. They have now said that the same bridge will be strengthened and widened to thrice the size in the existing bridge.”
“The bridge will have to be closed for 6-8 months and inconvenience will have to be borne by the residents of New Vaddem, but it is worth it because ultimately, we will have a bridge where two vehicles can cross and there will be no traffic jams.
The minister said the Railways will start work soon after the tendering process.
“Work is expected to start in less than three months and they are also trying to persuade the previous contactor who was awarded this work and if that happens, work could start in a month’s time," said Godinho.
