Mumbai News: BMC Restores 1.7 km Footpath For Coastal Road Project; Northbound Tunnel Opens For Traffic

Mumbai: The footpath of 1.7 km taken by the BMC to carry out Mumbai coastal road work has been restored since Tuesday. So the footpath that extends from GD Somani Chowk to Savitribai Phule Girls Hostel has now been made accessible to the citizens. Tetrapods have also been used to prevent the impact of sea waves hitting the walkway.

The northbound tunnel of the Dharamveer, Swarajyarakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road was opened for traffic on June 10. While the route on the Coastal Road extending up to Bindu Madhav Thackeray Chowk in Worli will be opened by July 10. The connector linking the Coastal Road and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) will partly open by the end of July.

A road along Marine Drive has been widened as part of a coastal road project. A road of 10.56 meters width and an average length of 1 kilometer is now available for use between Princess Street flyover to the Mafatlal Club signal. Also, a 400m road connecting the Princes Street flyover to the northern ramp of the tunnel has been constructed using the existing footpath. 

The additional service road adjacent to the Princes Street flyover can be used for access to the northern tunnel. "Several tourists visit Marine Drive especially during the monsoon. We have made seating arrangements like before and also footpaths for walking. We are planning on building street-lights as well," said a civic official. 

MLA Aaditya Thackeray has alleged the coastal road’s Worli Sea Face entry point was selectively opened for a minister’s convoy on Sunday night. In his letter written to municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani on Tuesday, Thackeray demanded to either issue a clarification on why the convoy was allowed and suggest action on the officials who allowed this movement or open the entire road.

"We were shocked to see a minister/ VIP and his/her convoy be allowed on to the coastal road on a weekend and post the closing hours (even as per weekday). Not only does this bring to Mumbai the VIP culture that never existed before, but also endangers the life of the VIP and the entourage," said Thackeray in his letter.