First phase of coastal road to be opened in 8 days: Samant

Mumbai: The first phase of the much-anticipated coastal road project connecting Worli with Marine Drive will be opened to the public in eight days, industries minister Uday Samant said on Thursday while speaking in the legislative council.

“The first phase of the coastal road which will connect Bindu Madhav Chowk in Worli and Marine Drive will be opened to the public in eight days. This will reduce the travelling time on the busy route to just eight minutes,” said Samant. The 10.58-km stretch of the coastal road from the Princess Street flyover at Marine Drive to the Worli-end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link will reduce travel time by 70% and fuel consumption by 34%, he noted. The stretch includes sections of the road built on reclaimed land, bridges, twin tunnels and three interchanges. Vehicles would be able to ply on the stretch at the speed of around 80 km per hour, Samant said.

The idea of the coastal road was floated in 2011 by the then chief minister Prithviraj Chavan as an alternative to the comparatively costly sea link project, while project itself was initiated by the BJP-Shiv Sena government. Chief minister Eknath Shinde had inspected work project at Priyadarshini Park in the first week of January and declared that it would be completed by January 31. Later, it was announced that the first phase of road would be thrown open on February 19. But that deadline was missed.