2 elevated roads planned to ease BKC traffic flow : The Times of India Mumbai

SCLR Will Be Extended Up To Vakola On WEH

An elevated road and a two-pronged flyover are planned to ease the flow of traffic in and out of BandraKurla Complex, decongest the Kalanagar and the BKCCST Road junctions, and extend an east-west link road from Eastern Express Highway to the Western Express Highway and ensure faster connectivity between the two traffic arteries.

“The final sanction for the Rs 743.7-crore MMRDA project is likely this week at a meeting chaired by the chief minister. Thereafter tenders will be floated and work can be awarded before the end of the financial year,“ said a Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority officer.

A 1.9-km elevated road starting from the Vakola junction on WEH up to Asian Heart Hospital in BKC is planned. The alignment of this road will pass through Kalina Mumbai University land. “We do not anticipate any hurdles as the land belongs to another government department,“ said the officer.

This connection will enable BKC-bound vehicles to skip the almost 5km busy stretch between Vakola and Bandra via Kalanagar.

BKC will also be served by a 1.1-km arm of a planned Santacruz-Chembur Link Road extension flyover. Taking off from Kapadia Nagar in Kurla, it will swing into BKC and enable vehicles to escape the congested Imam Ahmed Raza Chowk on CST Road.

As of now, entry to BKC is via CST road and BKC road from the east, from WEH through Kalanagar and a lessdeveloped road through Vakola pipeline-government colony stretch. “With a rise in financial and other institutions in the complex, the number of vehicles visiting has also grown, causing traffic congestion and cumbersome connectivity ,“ said the MMRDA official. These new connections will ensure smoother flow into and out of the business hub.

The 3.5-km elevated SCLR extension will start at Kapadia Nagar in Kurla and end at Vakola on the WEH, helping smoother flow on CST road as airport-direction traffic can take the elevated road. Multiple ramps will be provided at various places to enter and exit this elevated road. The Opposition party in the BMC has charged that public money was wasted when Rs 142 crore was spent for construction of a 1.5km road stretch between Vidyavihar and the arterial Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR).

Devendra Amberkar, Congress corporator and leader of the Opposition, questioned a Rs 14-crore variation in the construction cost. The project, including laying storm water drains and repair work for the concrete road, was passed in the BMC standing committee in 2010 at a cost of Rs 128 crore.

“It's a complete waste of public money . It is surprising that for the last five years work is going on with out a portion of the stretch, which belongs to another agency , being acquired,“ Amberkar said.

Senior civic officials said the variation was presented before the standing committee last November. The work of setting up two box drains on Ramdev Pir Marg was started in 2010 without acquiring a significant part of the portion from the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, they added.

“The stretch required a lot of work, from setting up two box drains to freeing it from encroachments. It is likely to be completed by next year,“ said S V R Srinivas, additional municipal commissioner and in-charge of roads department in the BMC.