Claimed to be India’s first double-decker flyover – part of the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road – has finally be thrown open for traffic in Mumbai. The 6.5km road provides quick east-west connectivity.
The Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) is aimed to ease traffic snarls at Amar Mahal Junction, Vakola, Sion and Kula areas and will also significantly de-congest the Eastern and Western Express Highways.
The SCLR comprises 1.8km long double-decker flyover above the Central Railway’s main line and Harbour line tracks. It has access to Kurla (W), Kurla (E), Tilak Nagar, Amar Mahal and Eastern Express Highway.
The SCLR – providing three lanes each for up and down traffic – is expected to carry more than 80,000 vehicles per day.
The upper and the lower levels of the flyover provide two lanes each for up and down traffic.
Motorists using the SCLR will save at least 30 minutes of travel time between the eastern and western suburbs.
It also has footpaths on the lower level flyover for commuters to cross over from Kurla Station to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus and vice versa.
The Rs 450 crore SCLR project, conceptualised in 2002, missed 12 deadlines due to issues related to resettlement, rehabilitation and encroachment. The groundwork commenced only in 2007.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the implementing agency, resettled and rehabilitated more than 3,500 affected families from Gazi Nagar, Buddha Colony, Sable Nagar, Rahul Nagar and Indira Colony areas.
The authority decided to open both projects simultaneously to avoid any traffic hold-up between SCLR and Amar Mahal Junction, which connects five major roads with Eastern Express Highway.
The flyover had a soft opening as official function is not allowed due to code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections.
An MMRDA official said, ‘The SCLR was part of the World Bank-funded Mumbai Urban Transport-I project aimed at improving rail and road infrastructure in Mumbai. Mumbai has always had an excellent rail transport network, which offers linear connectivity between the suburbs and the island city. But east-west connectivity has always been poor.’
