Santacruz Chembur Link Road set to get direct link to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Kurla

Construction work in progress for the pedestrian staircase on Santacruz Chembur Link Road bridge on Thursday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The high-flying Santacruz Chembur Link Road is getting the required pedestrian landing for commuters who get off public transport buses to directly access the Kurla Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. mid-day had in October 2020 reported on the staircase, also a recommendation post the 2017 Elphinstone stampede committee report.

"Yes. We have begun work on the staircase landing from the SCLR that will directly link Lokmanya Tilak Terminus station. It is a BMC project plan. They have deposited the money and the railways are implementing it. As per the location details, there is a public transport bus stop on the bridge and the pedestrian staircase landing is coming near the stop for easier access to LTT and Tilak Nagar station," said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway.

Local MLA Mangesh Kudalkar had been following up the issue and also raised it at the legislative assembly. The multi-crore SCLR that connects the western and eastern suburbs crosses several important installations, including LTT at Kurla, Tilak Nagar station and LBS Road. The staircase connector will also help all those using the terminus and wanting to reach Nehru Nagar and Kurla station much faster," he added. Earlier, they had to get off the SCLR bridge, take a detour in the circulating area of Kurla LTT station and then take another foot overbridge to reach the railway station.

The staircase landing was also one of the proposals suggested by the committee appointed to look after decongestion of bridges following the stampede at Elphinstone station. Subhash Gupta from Yatri Sangh Mumbai said one also needs to be extra cautious now. "The area below the bridge is notorious for anti-social elements and this staircase can be misused by such people to escape faster after committing crimes. The authorities will need to be extra careful to ensure that it remains well illuminated once built so that there are no dark spots on the staircase," he said.

2017
Year that the Elphinstone stampede committee report was published