SCLR to be extended till Western Express Highway

The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is all set to extend the Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) by three kilometres from the Vakola junction to right up to the Western Express Highway (WEH), which ends at the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).

“This project will help to decongest the traffic at the Vakola junction and also help the airport-bound traffic to reach BKC within minutes by using the extended SCLR. The tenders for the extension will be floated within 15 days,” confirmed additional metropolitan commissioner, Sanjay Sethi.

This extension will help BKC-bound traffic to skip almost the entire 3-km busy stretch between Vakola junction and start of BKC at the Kalanagar junction.

Currently, to enter BKC one needs to travel via CST road in Kurla and WEH at the Kalanagar junction.

“With every passing day traffic at the BKC is continuously increasing and also with the increase in the number of multinational companies coming up, the traffic flow of employees is increasing. Also, the planned International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) is expected to choke the traffic at BKC. The extension will ensure smooth traffic flow heading towards the commercial hub,” said an MMRDA official.

The SCLR was opened to public in April 2014, to provide east and west connectivity and cut travel time between Santa Cruz and Chembur to 30 minutes. It was a part of the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP), which was funded by the World Bank. The SCLR missed 11 deadlines and the work was started in 2003 and was supposed to be completed in 2008. However, only before the Lok Sabha elections in 2014, it was thrown open to the general public.