On Sunday, CM Fadnavis to inaugurate bow-string bridge to connect coastal road with Bandra Worli Sea Link

Come Monday (January 27), the northern arm of the bow-string bridge and the four new interchange arms will be flung open for vehicular traffic between 7 am to midnight daily. The second arm, once launched – will enable both the southbound traffic from the sea-link to flow into the coastal road without exiting the route and vice-versa. Furthermore, the opening of the four new interchange arms – three at the Worli junction and one at Haji Ali – will also aid vehicles to exit to Worli, Prabhadevi, Lower Parel and Lotus Junction.

Touted as the country’s longest arch bridge passing through an open sea, the bridge is 827 metres long – of which 699 metres passes over the sea and the approach road encompasses 128 metres.

The complete launch of the new bridge will mark a significant milestone towards the completion of the first phase of MCRP, which was partially launched for vehicular traffic on March 11, 2024.

50 lakh vehicles traverse so far: What is currently operational?

While the BMC had opened the southern arm from Worli to Marine Drive on March 11, the northern flank linking Marine Drive and Haji Ali was opened on June 11 and the final 3.5km stretch between Haji Ali and Worli became operational from July 11.

Meanwhile, the bow-string arch bridge is currently only partially open to north-bound traffic (on the south-bound carriageway). Inaugurated in September 2024, this arm was opened to traffic from South Mumbai’s Nariman Point to Bandra Worli Sea Link without exiting the coastal road.

Data furnished by the civic body shows that since the opening on March 12, last year and December 31, over 50 lakh vehicles have traversed through the coastal road. According to BMC officials, an average of 18,000 – 20,000 vehicles have been using the thoroughfare daily.

What remains?

According to officials, three interchange arms are yet to be opened for traffic. These include two at Worli – one connecting to Bandra and the other to Marine Drive – and one interchange at Haji Ali.

Among the other pending works of the MCRP are the green space spanning 70 hectares which senior officials maintained will take at least two years, promenade near Worli, pedestrian underpasses and the parking lots. According to Bhushan Gagrani, BMC chief, all pending works — barring the 70 hectare green space — are likely to be completed by December 2025.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the coastal project connecting Versova in the western suburbs with Dahisar, which is yet to take off, has been approved by the Ministry of Environment Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and is now awaiting the nod from the forest department over the mangrove patch. Pegged at a cost of Rs 16,621 crore, this project will be 22.93km long and encompass multiple bridges, flyovers and underground tunnels.