Part of Mumbai Coastal Road to be operational from Nov: BMC

However, the civic officials has said that the delay is being caused owing to a design change that is being implemented in the vehicular interchange at Worli.

“The design change was announced in January this year, after members from the fishing community resisted the gap of a navigational span of a bridge that will connect the main road with Bandra–Worli Sea Link. Now we have gone for a new design of this bridge for which it will take us. Six more months to reopen the bridge entirely,” said a senior official.

“For the time being we are exploring the options of opening the MCRP till a certain point and the last few kilometer stretch could be opened once the new bridge is ready,” the official added. At present, 76 per cent of the project has been completed.  The BMC has finished launching  girders in the Haji Ali interchange and girder launching is complete in almost all  interchanges as well.

The entire coastal road will have three interchanges, one at Amarsons Garden in Breach Candy, one at Haji Ali and the final interchange at Worli. Sources said that the final interchange would become operational only after the final bridge becomes ready.

The civic officials also said that by November only one of the underground tunnels will be opened for traffic movement, since the second tunnel will not be entirely operational till then.

In May 30, BMC had achieved it’s final breakthrough of the second tunnel.  “The first tunnel is ready. However, the final work of creating approach roads inside the second tunnel is ongoing. It will take us another 3-4 months to complete it entirely. After the road is opened in November traffic from both ends can pass through one tunnel, since each tunnel has three lanes for vehicular movement. However, these options are under consideration and we will issue a final plan once the decision is being made,” said an official.

Meanwhile, civic officials also maintained that the sea wall that was being built as an outer perimeter of this project has proved to be effective during the time when Cyclone Biparjoy passed over Mumbai.

With the cyclone passing above the city, Mumbai experienced tidal waves upto 5 metres.

Civic officials said that this wall has sustained two monsoons and it will prove to become an additional layer of protection for Mumbai during natural calamities. Built at a cost of Rs 12, 213 crore, the BMC is constructing the 10.58 km-long coastal road project to connect Marine Drive in south Mumbai with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link through a series of arterial roads, underground tunnels and traffic interchanges.