Mumbai coastal road project: BMC to allow public access to each of the four sections
Will ensure work on all sections begins simultaneously, says civic body
Photo for representational purpose
WITH the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) planning to tender out all parcels of work on the proposed Coastal Road project simultaneously, officials said each section would be thrown open as it is completed in order to ease local traffic.
As tendering process for the first four packets in the first phase were opened on April 27, the BMC has said it will ensure that work on all four sections will start simultaneously. At the inception of the planning of the Coastal Road project, the BMC had considered opening up the entire 34-km stretch to the public after it was completely constructed over eight years. However, after due consideration, the BMC decided to open them up individually so that these sections can serve as alternative routes and relieve congestion on certain roads and junctions.
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Sanjay Mukherjee, additional municipal commissioner, said, “The expression of interest for the first five packets have been floated. The work on all of them would begin simultaneously and we are planning to open them for public use as and when they are completed.” He added that the five sections of the Coastal Road, once integrated with the existing roads, can relieve the congestion in many parts of south Mumbai.
According to civic officials, the 3.4 km long underground tunnel from Princess Street flyover till Priyadarshini Park would relieve the traffic on Pedder Road, Bhulabhai Desai Road and Babulnath Chowk. Similarly, the 3.8 km long bridge from Priyadarshini Park to Baroda Palace would decongest the Haji Ali junction and Breach Candy area as well as Malabar Hill.
The next 2.7 km long stretch from Baroda Palace to the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link is expected to decongest Lala Lajpat Rai Road, Worli Dairy road as well as the Annie Besant road. Lastly, the 4.3 km long bridge from the Bandra end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link ending at Carter Road would decongest the Bandra reclamation area, especially near the Lilavati Hospital as well as S V Road. The BMC is aiming to issue work orders for the first phase of the project on October 1.
Apart from the first four packets which have been opened, the BMC has similar plans for the stretch from Carter Road to Moragaon in Juhu which is expected to relieve traffic congestion on Linking Road as well as on the Juhu Tara road near Juhu chowpatty. While the current alignment of this stretch proposes an underground tunnel, the BMC, however, is still deciding whether the stretch will be a tunnel or a bridge over stilts.
The alignment of the final section of the Coastal Road, which stretches from Bangur Nagar to Kandivli, is yet to be finalised. “We are still in the planning stage and we will have to decide whether the stretch will be divided into two packets or be in a single tender,” said the official.
Civic officials said after the construction of the four sections are complete, the interchanges would have to be constructed where the four sections would be integrated with the existing roads. “If the work on the four sections start simultaneously, we expect the integration process to take around two years. The entire project has been designed in a way and divided into sections so that people will be able to access them individually and won’t have to wait until the entire stretch is completed, which will take at least eight years,” said another civic official.
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