The BMC invited a tender to construct a 5.6km elevated road connecting the Eastern Freeway with Grant Road in February. The commuters heading towards eastern suburbs from areas of south Mumbai such as Grant Road, Nana Chowk, Tardeo, usually take 30-50 minutes during peak hours. The new flyover will cut their travel time to 6-7 minutes. However, even after seven months, there is no taker for the project.
Road to resolve traffic congestion
The 17-km Eastern Freeway connects the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) in the eastern suburbs with PD Mello Road in South Mumbai. However, there is no elevated road at the end of the Freeway, and the number of vehicles from the suburbs is more, which leads to traffic congestion. Due to this, the travel time towards the western part of the island city takes almost 50 minutes. The new flyover will connect the western part of south Mumbai to the Freeway, said the civic officials.
The estimated cost of the project is around Rs662.42 crore and is expected to be completed in 42 months (including monsoon).
The civic body extended the tender submission deadlines several times in the past seven months.
“Five big companies such as Larsen and Tubro, J Kumar, NCC have shown interest in the project. A pre-bid meeting was recently held in the BMC headquarters between the civic officials and representatives of the companies. The prospective bidders have raised several queries regarding the design of the flyover, estimated cost, tender conditions etc. We are trying to clear their doubts. The final date of tender submission will be August 21,” said a senior civic official.
The proposed elevated road starts from Eastern Freeway (Orange Gate) and passes through J Rathod Marg, Hancock Bridge, Ramchandra Bhatt Marg (over JJ flyover), Maulana Shaukat Ali Road and ends at Frere Bridge East.
The other arm will also pass via Patthe Bapurao Marg to Diana Talkies Marg (in Grant Road). The alignment is through a congested area on stilts and runs along the existing road. It will pass above the road with centrally erected single-column piles. However, the water mains, power supply cables, sewer lines and underground stormwater drains will have to be diverted for the foundation work.
Pointers:
5.6 km
Elevated road
Rs662 crore
Estimated cost
3.5 years
Expected time
Flyover will run on stilts along existing roads
30-50 minutes
Current travel time
6-7 minutes
Reduced travel time
