Good news for Mumbaikars: Coastal Road Phase 2 opened today (September 12) for vehicular traffic. On Thursday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde inaugurated the Mumbai Coastal Road bridge connecting to Bandra-Worli Sea Link in the financial capital.
The fourth Coastal Road project with a budget of over Rs 14,000 crore. Four-wheelers coming from south Mumbai to Bandra can now directly enter the sea link between 7 am and 11 pm. The south Mumbai bound vehicles will have to continue using the same route before it used to which was the arms of the Coastal Road are connected to the sea link.
After the inauguration, the Maharashtra CM said that people will not only be relieved from long traffic jams but also save time. It will take people only 30 minutes to go from South Mumbai to the airport. Vehicles going north on Mumbai's Coastal Road will now be able to go directly to Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
Phase 1 of the Coastal Road project started in March this year. It involved a 7 km route from Marine Drive in South Mumbai to Worli. Now, the route from Worli to Bandra Worli Sea Link will begin tomorrow.
Just 10 Minutes From Marine Drive to Bandra: Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde
Speaking to the media after the inauguration, Maharashtra CM Shinde said the route, which used to take 45 minutes to 1 hour to reach Bandra from Marine Drive, will now take 10 minutes. People of the city will save time and fuel, and not only this, but pollution will also be reduced, said CM Shinde.
"This project- earlier it used to take 45 minutes to 1 hour to travel from Marine Drive to Bandra, but now it will be a journey of just 10 minutes. This is a very comfortable and relaxing project for the people, a very ambitious and game changing project for the people of Mumbai. Vehicles used to run bumper-to-bumper on this route, but today we will travel faster, people will save time, people will save fuel, pollution will be reduced and it is signal-free," CM Eknath Shinde told to reporters in Mumbai.
"When we opened this span last time, we had said that on September 15, we will open it. Today is the 13th, we did this before time, this is our commitment... In the next 2 years, the whole of Mumbai will have completely concrete roads, there will not be a single pothole and Mumbai will be completely pothole-free and it is being beautified," said CM.
On inaugurating the arch bridge connecting Coastal Road to Bandra—Worli Sea Link, Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis attacked the Congress and said this project had been closed for more than 25 years. The Chief Minister used to go to Delhi, but permission was not granted.
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Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said that he held five meetings in Delhi for one and a half years, and after that, we got all the permissions. "This project was closed for 25 years. There were continuous governments of Congress and Sharad Pawar in the country and the state. The Chief Minister used to go to Delhi, but permission was not granted. Modi ji's government came, Mahayuti government came in the state, I held 5 meetings in Delhi for one and a half years and after that, we got all the permissions. After getting all the permissions, the work started," He added.