Coastal Road will be built in phases, Nariman Pt-Worli stretch first priority.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is considering constructing the ambitious 35.6-km Coastal Road in phases with priority to the most congested stretch on the island city - between Nariman Point and Worli. The road will originate from Nariman Point and culminate at Kandivli.

The stretch between Tambe Chowk and Haji Ali, where a flyover was proposed but never took off due to opposition from citizens, is the most congested area and the Coastal Road till Worli could solve the problem to a great extent.

BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said: 'A project of this magnitude has to be constructed in phases. We will give priority to the phase where congestion is a major issue, especially the Haji Ali Junction.' Mehta said that construction in phases wouldn’t mean that work on only one phase can start at a particular time.

'The environmental clearance will be sought simultaneously,” he added. The Coastal Road project does not face any opposition in the island city while the stretch of the road that passes through the suburban areas of Khar, Juhu, Versova are the problem areas for the BMC. In these areas, the project hasn’t got the environmental clearance as it has a lot of mangroves and it also faces stiff opposition from the fishermen community of the fishing villages of Khar Danda and Mora.

The 35.6-km Coastal Road is planned along the west coastline of Mumbai, which will provide a freeway linking south Mumbai with western suburbs. It is expected to reduce traffic congestion in the western suburbs of Mumbai.

The Western Express Highway (WEH) carries over 60% of the city’s traffic currently and this freeway would take the load off the WEH. Earlier, a garland of sea-links were proposed to ease the traffic congestion in Mumbai — of which only the Bandra-Worli Sea Link was constructed while the others were scrapped.

Meanwhile, the BMC is still not clear if the proposed tunnels as part of the project will be scrapped or not. The two tunnels are proposed from Nariman Point to Priyadarshini Park and other at Juhu beach. “We are still awaiting the report from the consultants about the tunnels,” Mehta said.

The State’s think-tank, Mumbai Transformation Support Unit, meanwhile, has given its suggestion that scrapping tunnels will put a lot of load on Marine Drive and cause more congestion. MTSU has suggested that the existing promenade should be converted into two lanes and a new promenade should be built on cantilever. “MTSU’s suggestions as well as other suggestions are being taken into consideration for this portion,” Mehta added.

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