Worli-Sewri elevated road to be linked with Coastal Road

In a major step ahead for having seamless connectivity and inter-link major infrastructure projects of the city, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to revive construction of 5-km-long Worli-Sewri elevated corridor which will connect the proposed Coastal Road and the existing Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL).

The proposed Worli-Sewri elevated corridor was originally planned as a connector for the 22-km Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link (MTHL). It would ensure a signal-free ride from Sewri to Bandra.

“We have planned to revive the plan for the Worli-Sewri elevated road for which the MMRDA will call for fresh tenders as the response for the tenders called previously for the project cannot be considered now,” said U.P.S. Madan, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA.

In January 2014, five bidders — Gammon India, Hindustan Construction Company, Larsen & Toubro, NCC and Simplex Infrastructure — had bid for the project, which did not take off.

The alignment of the elevated corridor is being mooted in such a manner that it will inter-link three big ticket infrastructure projects — a move which is expected to make Navi Mumbai more accessible via MTHL, especially for people travelling from Bandra onwards or far from the western suburbs.

“Subsequently, once the construction of MTHL starts, we will float tenders for construction of the elevated connector. This time, we are also planning it to connect it to the Costal Road after which the elevated link will play a vital role in inter connecting three projects namely BWSL, Coastal Road and MTHL,” Mr Madan added.

The MMRDA had taken up the Worli-Sewri project as the bidders from MTHL had demanded it citing that the elevated connector would get more traffic to MTHL. However, the demand was made when the MTHL project was being implemented on a public-private-partnership. Later, when the project was taken up on cash contract basis, the MMRDA had considered putting it on backburner.

Commenting on the development, a a senior MMRDA official said, “Now, after the things for MTHL have started rolling we have planned to revive the Worli-Sewri elevator connector to provide seamless connectivity.”