Southbound carriageway of Mumbai coastal road opens for traffic

Pic/PTI

The southbound carriageway of the coastal road between Worli and Marine Drive in Mumbai was opened for traffic on Tuesday morning, an official said, reported news agency PTI.

Vehicles were allowed access to the four-lane southbound carriageway of the Mumbai coastal road from 8 am on Tuesday, a day after the project's first phase was inaugurated by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the traffic police official said.

"The Mumbai coastal road is opened for traffic," the official said, reported PTI.

According to civic officials, motorists can enter the four-lane southbound carriageway from Worli Seaface, Haji Ali interchange and Amarsons Garden.

Chief Minister Shinde on Monday inaugurated the 10.5-km-long stretch of the road at Worli in the presence of Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and other dignitaries, reported PTI.

Following the inauguration, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said the partial opening of the coastal road will reduce the travel time of motorists from 40 minutes to 9 minutes, reported PTI.

He had also claimed that the road would save nearly USD 100 million annually in carbon emissions through fuel savings.

According to Chahal, the coastal road of 10.58 km length and 16.5 km of interchanges, being built at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore, consists of four lanes on each side along with two 12.19 metre diameter tunnels of 2.07 km length, reported PTI.

These are the largest tunnels by diameter built by tunnel boring machines in the country, he said.

"It is for the first time in India that a four-lane coastal road has been built 100 per cent on land reclaimed from the sea and stands on monopiles only," he said.

"The project has been executed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in record time as the actual construction work commenced only in June 2020 after vacation of stay order by the high court even though work order was issued in October 2018. The northbound carriageway of the coastal road will be ready by May 2024," he said.

The coastal road will have 175 acres of coastal gardens that will be developed over time, said Chahal, who is the BMC's administrator.

(With inputs from PTI)