The Mumbai Coastal Road kept its date with the city before the state and the general elections. State dignitaries inaugurated the project on Monday, amid fanfare, including a special city transport bus for women plying the new road.

       Starting Tuesday, 9.5 km of the 10.58 km road will be opened to regular traffic. The full-stretch, with work at the north-end still underway, is expected to be operational by May. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis were present at the inauguration.

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       Dharmveer Swarajya Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road | Photo: Kamlesh Pednekar

       The Mumbai Coastal Road, now officially named Dharmveer Swarajya Rakshak Chatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Marg, has been built in a budget of close to Rs 14,000 crore and a construction period of five years.

       Once finished, the full stretch will connect the southern end of the city with the Bandra Worli Sea Link by May. Currently, traffic on the coastal road is restricted to southbound travel between Marine Drive and Worli, operating for twelve hours a day from 8 am to 8 pm, and only on weekdays.

       The missing gap, a stretch of just over a kilometre, is expected to directly connect the coastal road to the sea link. The last-leg of the project was reportedly delayed owing to changes made to the project design to accommodate requests from the fisherfolk community of the city.

       Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the nodal authority for the project, expects the coastal road will help cut down travel time by 70 per cent.

       In addition to this first stretch of the coastal road, BMC is also developing the second phase of the coastal road connecting Versova, a western suburb of the city, to further north parts of the city at Dahisar. According to news reports, the second stretch is estimated to cost another Rs 16,621 crore and will be completed over four years.

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