To make the business district of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) more accessible from the eastern suburbs, the city’s development authority has invited bids to construct an elevated road from within the complex to the Eastern Express Highway. The MMRDA has pegged the project cost at Rs 261 crore. The MMRDA will have a pre-bid meeting for companies interested in bidding for the project on April 22. The last date for submission of bids is May 30. MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar said, “The construction is likely to start after June.” The project is expected to be completed in three years. “The elevated road will be 1.6 kilometres in length. Besides, there will be three bridges — one over Mithi river, and two rail over-bridges,” Kawathkar said. The bride over the Mithi river will be 230 metres in length, while the rail over-bridges will be 50 metres in length each. One rail over-bridge will cross the central and harbour railway lines, while the other will be on VN Purav Marg at the railway crossing near Chunabhatti station, Kawathkar said. The elevated road will begin at G Block in MMRDA from near the authority’s headquarters and end on the Eastern Express Highway near Somaiya Grounds in Sion-Chunabhatti. The road will go over the Mahim Nature Park, LBS Marg, cross railway lines half a kilometre north of Sion station and over the Chunabhatti railway crossing. The road will bring relief to commuters from the eastern suburbs, Navi Mumbai and Thane wishing to travel to BKC. At present, it takes over 30 minutes during peak hours to travel from Sion to Bandra Kurla Complex using the narrow and congested Sion-Dharavi Link Road, while the elevated road will enable vehicles to cover this distance in about five minutes.
