Mumbai: Expect decongested BKC before state polls

Two flyover projects boosting connectivity of Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) towards south Mumbai and eastern suburbs are expected to be thrown open for motorists before state elections this year. Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is racing against time to ensure completion of the projects before the state elections.

The two flyovers include around 1-km-long BKC-Chunabhatti corridor that will ensure signal-free travel towards eastern suburbs from BKC allowing one to land directly on Eastern Express Highway. The other flyover is the 1.6-km-long Kalanagar junction flyover project that will connect family court in BKC and will land on Western Express Highway (WEH) near the Bandra-Worli Sea-Link. The flyover will also have one arm for connecting motorists coming from Dharavi or Sion.

While most of the work on BKC-Chunabhatti corridor is completed, civil construction work over railways tracks of Kurla and Sion is underway. "Work on this particular flyover should be completed before monsoon or by June end, after which we will be in a position to open it for the public by July," said an MMRDA official.

On the other hand, with a July deadline, MMRDA anticipates work of BKC-BWSL flyover to be completed before the polls. "Progress of work on the project was quite slow. Also, changes in the design considering both the flyover and alignment of DN Nagar-Mandale Metro-2B corridor crisscross at Kalanagar junction delayed the project further," added the official.

The two flyovers are crucial for decongesting traffic at Kalanagar junction considering the junction leads one towards BKC, towards Mahim and Sion, towards BWSL and towards the western suburbs via the Western Express Highway. To ease this bottleneck, the two flyovers have been planned that will directly take a commuter to BKC, skipping over Kalanagar.

The news has brought relief to Mumbaikars who travel from BKC daily. One such citizen, Bharat Shah, who travels daily to BKC from Bandra station says, "The flyovers will help decongest Kalanagar junction and ensure faster commute between Bandra station and BKC. However, the authorities need to increase the usage of AC buses to bring down the usage of illegal auto's that ply on the route, that is a major cause behind traffic congestion."