MUMBAI: With an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday morning announced that apart from the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL) project, the first phase coastal road would also be opened soon. The MTHL is slated to be opened up by PM Narendra Modi on January 12 this week.
Shinde who inspected the ongoing Mumbai coastal road works said that the work on phase one of the project i.e.the road going from Worli to Marine Drive will be completed by January 31 and thereafter would be opened up to motorists. Civic officials said that the road is likely to be opened up by February 2024.
The remaining part of the road would be opened up by May 2024, said the CM. The Rs 12,721 crore project works which began around November 2018 were to be partly completed in November 2023. There was a design change owing to resistance from the Worli fisherfolk and hence the final leg of the project would be completed by May 2024.
Further, he also added that as proposed initially the road will be toll-free. This comes despite BMC’s recent plans to consider a toll for motorists. The CM’s announcement for a toll-free road comes following opposition from several political parties like Shiv Sena, Samajwadi and AAP-Mumbai unit who said that the road is built using Mumbaikar’s taxes and that the move to reverse earlier decision would be opposed. “By January 31 one phase of the road would be completed giving great relief to motorists whom we see are hassled in the peak hour traffic,” said Shinde.
The CM after travelling in the tunnel on Sunday said that it was made using advanced technology and in case of any untoward disasters like fires also it will be able to throw out the smoke without accumulating it in the same. The CM said that works on the coastal highway for Mumbai are not meant to stop here are they will carry on up to Versova. The west leg of the Mumbai Coastal Road project is proposed from Versova to Dahisar pegged to cost 16,621 crores.
While the Coastal Road could be opened up to motorists by May 2024, development of the open spaces as well as proposed parking facilities would take a year more to be completed.
Shinde who inspected the ongoing Mumbai coastal road works said that the work on phase one of the project i.e.the road going from Worli to Marine Drive will be completed by January 31 and thereafter would be opened up to motorists. Civic officials said that the road is likely to be opened up by February 2024.
The remaining part of the road would be opened up by May 2024, said the CM. The Rs 12,721 crore project works which began around November 2018 were to be partly completed in November 2023. There was a design change owing to resistance from the Worli fisherfolk and hence the final leg of the project would be completed by May 2024.
Further, he also added that as proposed initially the road will be toll-free. This comes despite BMC’s recent plans to consider a toll for motorists. The CM’s announcement for a toll-free road comes following opposition from several political parties like Shiv Sena, Samajwadi and AAP-Mumbai unit who said that the road is built using Mumbaikar’s taxes and that the move to reverse earlier decision would be opposed. “By January 31 one phase of the road would be completed giving great relief to motorists whom we see are hassled in the peak hour traffic,” said Shinde.
The CM after travelling in the tunnel on Sunday said that it was made using advanced technology and in case of any untoward disasters like fires also it will be able to throw out the smoke without accumulating it in the same. The CM said that works on the coastal highway for Mumbai are not meant to stop here are they will carry on up to Versova. The west leg of the Mumbai Coastal Road project is proposed from Versova to Dahisar pegged to cost 16,621 crores.
While the Coastal Road could be opened up to motorists by May 2024, development of the open spaces as well as proposed parking facilities would take a year more to be completed.
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