Mumbai: New 'connector' to disrupt Eastern Express Highway

Two lanes on either side of the Eastern Express Highway in the SionChunabhatti stretch will be closed for vehicles once work on the elevated connector begins PicSuresh KarkeraTraffic and Mumbai always go hand in hand And the situation worsens when authorities take up work of any sort So while Western Express Highway WEH commuters are already struggling with jams as work on the Metro rail has begun those using the busy Eastern Express Highway EEH are nextWith the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA set to begin work on the BKCChunabhatti elevated connector in less than two weeks two lanes on either side of EEH near Chunabhatti would be closed leaving only three lanes on either sides for motoristsBumper to bumperMMRDA Chief Engineer Prakash Mamdapure said ldquoIn the next two to three weeks we expect to start the construction of the approaches to the BKCChunabhatti connector We have already approached the traffic police with the plan They will suggest diversions and once the NOC is in place wersquoll start the workrdquoldquoIn order to avoid trafficrelated issues on the stretch SionChunabhatti which anyway sees numerous jams vehicles will be diverted to the service roads on either side of the highwayrdquo he addedAside from the closure of two lanes on either side 500 metres of the EEH near the Somaiya grounds would be barricaded as well Authorities said they also plan to smoothen roads on either side of the highway before they start the work to minimise the chances of traffic jams as much as possibleOn the western side work on the DahisarAndheri east and DahisarDN Nagar Metro is expected to hit the already crawling traffic on WEH and the New Link Road between Dahisar and BandraZip zap zoomOnce completed the over Rs 200crore elevated connector is expected to help motorists coming from eastern suburbs reach BKC faster At present motorists take more than 30 minutes to reach BKC from Chunabhatti encountering traffic near Sion circle as well as on SionDharavi Link Road Once the connector is complete motorists will be able to reach BKC from Chunabhatti in less than 10 minutes The connector is also expected to provide seamless connectivity between the western and eastern suburbsIt will start from GBlock in BKC and after crossing Mithi river LBS Marg Central Railway tracks and NS Mankikar Road or Duncan Causeway Road leading to Chunabhatti station it will cross Harbour line tracks and pass through Somaiya Trust Ground to join the EEHThe piling activity along with erection of pillars has started With review meetings for the project development status being done at regular intervals authorities said they have chalked out a timebound plan to complete the various works