Closure of Andheri's Gokhale Bridge for repairs resulted in exasperating traffic snarls from Bandra — through Santacruz, Vile Parle, Andheri — till Jogeshwari on the third day after it collapsed, forcing many to take alternate routes and leaving others stranded for as long as an hour and a half in traffic.

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Due to this, there was congestion at Milan Subway/ flyover (Santacruz), Balasaheb Thackeray flyover (Jogeshwari), Andheri subway, Khar subway and Vile Parle bridge. This knotted up traffic on Western Express Highway (WEH) and SV Road.

The Mumbai traffic police had issued a traffic advisory about the bridge closure on Wednesday, appealing commuters to take the alternate route described above.

Several motorists took to social media to express their displeasure over the traffic chaos because of the bridge closure. "One foot overbridge collapsed and its aftereffects are causing daylong traffic jams in western suburbs on WEH. Mumbai Police is doing its best but it is an alarm for the authorities," tweeted Sagar Sharma.

Another commuter, Rohit, tweeted, "Stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on WEH at Jogeshwari. Facing this issue since yesterday when it took 1.5 hours from Jogeshwari to Bandra."

Due to the closure, several BEST buses were also diverted, adding to the disorder on the roads.

A similar situation haunted motorists in the western suburbs on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the same diversions and traffic jams are expected in the coming few days, until Gokhale Bridge is revamped and thrown open to vehicular movement again.

BEWARE THE SNARL

Diversion spots where traffic congestion is likely to be witnessed this week: Milan subway, Milan Flyover, Andheri subway, Khar subway, Captain Gore bridge (Vile Parle), Balasaheb Thackeray flyover (Jogeshwari) and Mrunal Tai Gore flyover (Goregaon).