Mumbai: A total of 20,450 cars used the north-bound tunnel of the Mumbai coastal road on its first day of opening to motorists on Tuesday, with 17,910 vehicles driving through it on Wednesday between 7 am and 8 pm, according to a report in Times of India. The underground tunnel, which opens at Marine Drive and takes motorists to Breach Candy, is currently being manually monitored as the automatic vehicle counter is not yet in place.
According to the report, on the first day, Tuesday, peak traffic was recorded between 7 pm and 8 pm with 2,080 cars, followed by 1,770 vehicles between 5 pm and 6 pm, and 1,650 between 6 pm and 7 pm. In comparison, the southbound tunnel saw 16,331 vehicles on its first day of operation in March.
Details On Timings & Routes Opened
The north-bound section of the road is currently operational only up to Haji Ali, where just four of the eight interchanger arms are in use. The northbound road is open only on weekdays from 7 am to 11 pm. According to the report citing a BMC official, work on the remaining portion of the road is being carried out on weekends and after midnight, requiring its closure during these times.
The entire stretch of the road is expected to be completed by October. Currently, the north and southbound arms are operating in phases. BMC officials while speaking to TOI stated that the southbound arm will be fully operational between Marine Drive and the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) by the end of July.
Promenade & Green Spaces To Be Built By End Of 2025
While the promenade around the coastal road will be ready soon, the wait will continue for open spaces such as a jogging track, a cycling track, a butterfly garden and other open-air amenities proposed by the BMC. Work on these amenities will commence after the monsoon and is expected to take at least another year or more to complete, with an estimated cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Additionally, the 1,857-capacity underground car park spaces are likely to be ready only by December 2025.
About Mumbai Coastal Road
The Mumbai coastal road, built at a cost of Rs 13,983.8 crore, including a construction cost of Rs 9,383.7 crore and other administrative charges is a 10.6 km-long high-speed corridor featuring tunnels, vehicular interchanges and bridges.
