80 per cent work on elevated corridor, which will decongest SCLR junction, completed
Work is carried out on the elevated corridor that connects MTNL junction at Bandra-Kurla Complex to LBS flyover at Kurla
By September next year, motorists will be able to travel via the elevated corridor from MTNL junction at Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) to LBS flyover at Kurla as 80 per cent of work on the flyover has been completed.
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The project will help to reduce traffic congestion at MTNL junction and the rest of BKC. Metropolitan Commissioner S V R Srinivas said, “The elevated corridor will be thrown open for traffic in September 2023. This signal-free, 1.2-km-long, two-lane bridge will connect the Eastern and Western Express Highway.”
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The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has been working on a war footing to decongest BKC and Santacruz–Chembur Link Road (SCLR) junctions by constructing two roads at an estimated cost of Rs 449 crore.
In September 2021, an under-construction portion of the bridge collapsed near MTNL junction and 14 labourers had a miraculous escape.
Work on a 3.89-km elevated road from Kapadia Nagar in Kurla West to Vakola near the Western Express Highway is also in progress and this project will also help decongest the SCLR junction.
Currently, a lot of traffic jams are witnessed on the SCLR in the morning and evening peak hours, especially between Kurla and Kalina as scrap and second-hand motor dealers' shops and garages are present along the stretch.
The locals and MMRDA have complained several times to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ward office and also to traffic police officials about shops and garages occupying almost a lane of the road in both directions, which leads to traffic jams. But no permanent solution has been arrived at.