Mumbai Plans New Infra Projects for Improving Traffic Conditions
With bad traffic conditions and the road congestions, Mumbai may see new infrastructure projects, which are aimed at addressing these problems. Different civic administration bodies are planning infrastructure projects in various locations in the city to ease the road congestion problems Mumbaikars are facing. Here are some of them.
MSRDC plans 11 km tunnel on Mumbai-Pune Expressway
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has planned to build India’s longest tunnel across the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The tunnel will be 11 km long and will be part of the Rs. 5,000 crore project that is intended to widen the Expressway. The project has already received a green signal from the Maharashtra chief minister. The Expressway will be widened from 6-lane to 8-lane from Kalamboli to Sinhgad Institute.
The MSRDC plans to construct the 11 km-long tunnel to keep the old Mumbai-Pune National Highway-4 and the new Mumbai-Pune Expressway separate between Kalamboli and Khopoli up to Lonawla, considering the traffic condition between Khopoli and Lonavala where these two roads meet. The tunnel will pass through Bhushi Dam, which will reduce the commute time. Some part of the tunnel will be elevated. There will also be a parallel baby tunnel on both sides of the main tunnel, which will serve as exit during emergencies.
A final decision on the project will be taken after discussing it in the infrastructure committee.
MMRDA plans two new bridges in Mumbai
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) plans to build two new bridges at University Junction, Bandra-Kurla Junction and near Mithi river in order ease the traffic conditions. It also plans to remodel the existing bridge that will be complementing the Santacruz-Chembur east-west link road. The two bridges will connect Bandra-Kurla Link Road to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) junction and Hans Burga Marg to CST Marg. The existing CST Bridge will be remodeled to a width of 45 m and length of 100 m. The two new bridges too are expected to complement the Santacruz-Chembur link road.
BMC to study traffic density and profile of roads
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is planning to study the traffic density and profile of roads ahead of its Rs. 7,000 crore-road construction project. The road construction project involves concretizing important roads and laying asphalt on them, and will be undertaken over five years.
BMC had concretized only major roads earlier. However, it is now looking at studying the traffic density on each road and the road’s significance, however small it is, before it takes up construction of the road. Various criteria will be considered before constructing a concrete and asphalt road. The civic administration is also looking at testing different technologies for constructing roads.
The BMC will plan the road construction in phases. It is also planning to introduce a maintenance clause in its tendering process. This is in the wake of smaller contractors doing a shoddy job in maintaining the roads. This clause will now require the contractors to maintain the roads including relaying and resurfacing 15-20% of the roads every year. Contractors were earlier required to do only pothole-related repairs. BMC is also planning a single window clearance for roadwork related approval.
