After years of legal delays, monsoons, heavy lifting and a lot of fancy formwork, the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, a 4.7- kilometer viaduct with two cable-stayed spans, made its final connection on April 20 and is slated to open to traffic in mid-May. When it does, the bypass over the sea will cut the time of a trip across Mahim Bay in Mumbai, India, from about 40 minutes to just six.
Drivers who had to suffer through 23 traffic lights to make the trip from Bandra in north Mumbai to Worli in the southern part of the city will face only four on the new route, planned by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corp.