With an aim to reduce the traffic congestion in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is looking to construct a 5.6-km-long elevated road that will connect the Eastern Freeway with Grant Road, as per Indian Express report. The plan of the municipality is to connect South Mumbai with arterial roads.
Importantly, the plan is to connect the Eastern Freeway in the eastern suburbs’ Chembur with South Mumbai’s PD Mello Road. Ever since it was opened for commuters in 2014, the highway has helped in bringing down the congestion significantly between the southern and eastern sides of the city. However, the congestion starts increasing at the end of the PD Mello Road as there are no additional road for vehicles to move further.
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According to P Velrasu, additional municipal commissioner (projects), the new road will connect PD Mello Road with Grant Road by passing through the JJ Flyover. Speaking at a Townhall organised by The Indian Express, Velrasu said that the corporation has planned to build the elevated corridor as an universal project, which will not be an extension of the freeway.
He further observed that there are at the moment no alternate route at the freeway drop point in PD Mello Road and those commuters who need to travel towards Grant Road, Malabar Hill or Girgaon have to go through Marine Drive.
This flyover once come up, will play a key role in removing traffic blockage near PD Mello Road and Colaba, Velrasu further told the paper. Currently, commuters take around 30 to 50 minutes to commute towards Grant Road from PD Mello Road or Colaba. This travel time will reduce to 6-7 minutes, once the new road come into being. He further observed that the traffic movement will further increase in the next few years after Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link Road (MTHL) is connected with the freeway, with not only vehicles from Mumbai but also from Navi Mumbai passing through. This traffic problem can be tackled after the new road comes into being.
The total length of this road will be 5.6 km and the cost of the project is expected to be around Rs 743.28 crore. The BMC is expected to complete the project in three years.
