[ad_1]
Officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Friday that the Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) is set to become partially operational by November 2023. Civil officials have also confirmed that the entire high-speed corridor will become operational for vehicular traffic by May 2024.
At present, civic officials are exploring two options for partially opening this bridge. The first is between Marine Drive and Haji Ali Promenade, while the second option is from Marine Drive to JK Kapoor Chowk at Worli Junction. The deadline to reopen the entire bridge was November 2023.
However, civilian officials said the delay was caused by a design change being implemented at Worli’s vehicle exchange.
“The design change was announced in January this year, after members of the fishing community fought the gap of the navigational span of the bridge that will connect the main road with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. We have now chosen a new design for this bridge that will take us to
Another six months to fully reopen the bridge,” said a senior official.
“Currently, we are exploring options for opening the MCRP up to a certain point and the last few kilometers can be opened once the new bridge is ready,” the official added. At present, 76 percent of the project has been completed. BMC has finished launching the girders at Haji Ali Interchange and the girders have been launched in almost all intersections as well.
The entire coastal road will have three interchanges, one at Amersons Garden in Breach Candy, one at Haji Ali and the last interchange at Worli. Sources said that the final intersection will not operate until the last bridge is ready.
Civic officials also said that by November only one tunnel would be open to traffic, as the second tunnel would not be fully operational until then.
On May 30, BMC made its final breach of the second tunnel. The first tunnel is ready. However, the final work to establish the approach routes inside the second tunnel is ongoing. It will take us another 3-4 months to complete it completely. After the road opened in November, traffic from both ends can pass through a single tunnel, with each tunnel having three lanes for vehicular traffic. However, these options are under consideration and we will release a final plan once a decision is made.
Meanwhile, the civic officials also confirmed that the sea wall which was built as an outer perimeter for this project proved to be effective during the time when Cyclone Pebarjoy passed over Mumbai.
As the cyclone passed over the city, Mumbai was hit by tsunamis of up to 5 metres.
Civil officials said this wall has withstood two monsoons and will prove to be an extra layer of protection for Mumbai during natural disasters. Built at a cost of Rs 12,213 crore, BMC is constructing a 10.58 km coastal road project to connect Marine Drive in south Mumbai with the Bandra-Worli Sea Link via a series of arterial roads, underground tunnels and traffic interchanges.
[ad_2]
