SCLR finally opens to public, sees less traffic due to Good Friday

The much-delayed and much-awaited Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) finally opened on Friday but to sparse traffic on account of Good Friday. Also, motorists said it will take them some time to familiarise themselves with the latest arterial road of Mumbai, its approach roads as well as entry and exit points.

Even autorickshaw and taxi drivers were seen trying to understand the East-West connectivity. "It is important to know the new route to ferry passengers. Driving being our only source of income, we are supposed to know all possible shortcuts," said Ramesh Chaurasia, an autorickshaw driver.

A traffic police officer said, "Friday being a public holiday, there were fewer vehicles on the road. Therefore, it was not possible to gauge how much traffic will be reduced on the Sion-Dharavi-Kalanagar road."

Despite the drive between Amar Mahal Junction and LBS Road, Kurla, being as short as five minutes, Kapadia Nagar on CST Road in Kurla remained a troubled spot with respect to traffic snarls. Whereas near Chheda Nagar on the Eastern Express Highway, the traffic movement was better than expected.

An official from Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation said, "In the coming days, the traffic will increase drastically on the Link Road because people would prefer bypassing Kherwadi Junction, where flyover work is underway and also because it's a traffic jam-prone location at any given time of the day."

With footpaths available on the first deck of the double-decker flyover at Tilak Nagar, people were also taking a walk to get an aerial view of Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.

SCLR has a total of three flyovers on its route, namely, CST Road flyover, double-decker flyover at Tilak Nagar and Amar Mahal Junction flyover. Construction had began in September 2003 and has got completed only now, barring finish touches.