Mumbai: Ahead of Lok Sabha polls, its raining project inaugurations in Mumbai. After the recent inauguration of Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, officially known as Atal Setu that connects Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, another mega project – Mumbai Coastal Road – was inaugurated on Monday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde inaugurated phase one of the 10.5-kilometer-long stretch, which is one of the major infrastructure projects in the city. As most of the travelling from the western suburbs in Mumbai runs in the north-south directions, the coastal road is expected to provide a respite from traffic jams to motorists as it will provide an alternative to the existing Western Express Highway (WEH). The coastal road has been named after Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj (son of Maratha warrior king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj). Built at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore, the project includes a series of arterial roads along with underground tunnels and bridges, all aiming to decongest the traffic. Motorists can enter the coastal road from Worli Seaface, Haji Ali interchange and Amarson’s interchange points, and exit at Marine Lines. Motorists will be able to cover the Worli to Marine Drive stretch in 10 minutes, down from the 40-45 minutes it takes now. The key highlight of the 10.58-km long corridor is the 2.07-km twin tunnel, which is partly under the sea and a hill. The tunnels start between the Hindu and Islam Gymkhana, extend north under the Arabian Sea, Girgaon Chowpatty and Malabar Hill, and end at Breach Candy’s Priyadarshini Park. Once finished, the full stretch will connect the southern end of the city with the Bandra Worli Sea Link by May. “About 175 acres of green space is being developed as part of the coastal road project, besides 120 acres or racecourse land. Thus, Mumbai will get a Central Park spread over around 300 acres,” Shinde said.
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