Mumbai: SCLR to get another extension, at LBS Marg

The civic body has now decided to build a flyover for motorists heading towards Mulund, as an extension to the Santacruz-Chembur link road (SCLR), said an official. Activists, however, have slammed the authorities, saying there is no planning in building roads, as no amount of connectors have helped reduce traffic on the route.

People travelling from MTNL junction in Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) towards Mulund via Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) Marg won't get stuck at any signal, the official said. The BMC has invited tenders for the proposed 230-meter flyover, with a width of 5.5 metres, at a cost of R29.99 crore. It will have one and a half lanes. The proposed flyover will exit the SCLR from near Mahanagar Gas CNG station at Ambedkar Nagar in Kurla, and land opposite Kalpana Cinema on LBS Marg.

"The MMRDA had constructed a connector between BKC junction and Kalina junction towards the SCLR flyover. However, only motorists using the SCLR Halav bridge in Kurla can use it. The proposed flyover will help motorists who want to go towards Mulund from LBS road and avoid three traffic signals from BKC junction," the official said.

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The BMC plans to complete the project in 24 months, excluding the monsoons," the official said. The flyover, however, can be used only by northbound traffic. On the south side, towards Sion, Metro work is underway," he added. "First, they built SCLR, then a connector to ease traffic on CST road. But, the area still faces traffic woes. Now, BMC has planned another flyover. This shows how the authorities don't plan properly. Had they planned everything at once, they could have saved time as well as money," civic activist Anil Galali said.

Godfrey Pimenta, another activist, said, "This shows our authorities are not doing a basic study. They don't ground reality into account while planning. It wastes both money and time. Until now, the MMRDA was handling the work, but now the BMC will build the proposed flyover. If one authority had done everything, they could have avoided inconvenience to motorists and commuters." The SCLR opened to traffic in April 2014 and the BKC-Kalina connector recently.