local residents have expressed concerns about the increased height of the new bridge gopichand desai chairman of lower parel mitra mandal expressed dismay at the steep ascent pedestrians must now endure as the new bridge stands at a height of almost 59 metres compared to the previous bridges 49metre height desai and others have urged the authorities to consider installing an escalator to accommodate pedestrian traffic as they believe the current infrastructure prioritizes motorists over pedestrians desai said moreover despite being in the final stages of construction pedestrians still lack proper footpaths and face steep staircases leading to the bridge a senior bmc official clarified that the increased height of all reconstructed bridges aims to facilitate the smooth passage of doubledecker trains for safety reasons the public is discouraged from crossing the bridge and hence the provision of a staircase has been made the official said lower parel mitra mandal secretary kumar salgaonkar highlighted the difficulties faced by residents during the fiveyear absence of the bridge many important civic and private hospitals are located in parel so transporting patients especially during emergencies now takes over 40 minutes instead of the previous ten school and college students traveling from lower parel to lalbaug also endure longer and costlier journeys due to taxi drivers being forced to take detours because of the bridge closure he said sumit thakur chief spokesperson of western railway denied any delays on their part he attributed the setback during the second wave of covid to the diversion of oxygen supplies but emphasized that work progressed diligently once construction resumed in february 2022 with completion expected by october that year the responsibility for constructing ramps was subsequently transferred to the bmc the railways continued with its part of the work on the project despite the monsoon that year thakur stated p velrasu additional municipal commissioner overseeing the bmcs bridges department assured that the west arm of the bridge connecting gk marg with nm joshi marg would open by the end of may he affirmed that the entire bridge would be operational by july refuting reports of gravel shortages and reaffirming the bmcs commitment to expedite the bridges openingnearly five years have passed since the closure of delisle bridge in lower parel for motorists and yet the vital connector remains a work in progress the brihanmumbai municipal corporation bmc aims to open one phase by may 31 with the entire bridge proposed to be opened on july 1 the dismantling of the bridge significantly impacted the travel time of local residents and the thousands of officegoers who regularly commute to lower parel the decision to shut down delisle bridge was made after iitbombay conducted a structural inspection following the collapse of gokhale bridge in andheri in july 2018 the inspection revealed corrosion in the bridge which serves as a crucial link connecting stations on the central and western railway lines as well as major roads in the business hub of lower parel worli currey road lalbaug and prabhadevi as