Western Freeway | |
---|---|
Route information | |
Length: | 30 km (20 mi) |
Major junctions | |
From: | Marine Drive |
To: | Kandivli |
Location | |
States: | Maharashtra |
Major cities: | Mumbai |
Highway system | |
The Western Freeway is a transportation infrastructure project in Mumbai, India that envisions the construction of multiple bridges over the Arabian Sea to reduce traffic-congestion between the Western Suburbs and the island city. The freeway will stretch from Marine Drive in South Mumbai to Kandivli in the north, a distance of 29 km.
The first phase of the project, known as the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, was completed in June 2009, and links Bandra in the north and Worli in the south with a cable stayed bridge spanning the Mahim Bay. This development has relieved the congestion on the Mahim Causeway, which until then had been the only road between the Western Suburbs and South Mumbai on the western sea front. The fate of next segments is unclear. An alternative to the Western Freeway is the Coastal Freeway, a proposed 35.6 km road from Manora MLA Hostel at Nariman Point to Kandivali
This section would have been an extension of the sea-link from Haji Ali to Priyadarshini Park, and onward to Malabar Hill. The section was sub-divided into the following:
On 16 April 2013, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told the state Assembly that the Nariman Point–Haji Ali sea link was "impractical". Chavan stated, "As far as the sea link is concerned, the consultant had ruled out the possibility of taking it further than Haji Ali. We will look at other alternatives." Chavan also said that he would promote a coastal road as an alternative to the sea link.
This section is the immediate extension of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link further into the heart of Mumbai city. The current design allows for a clover leaf junction at Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Marg (at Worli) for ramp up of traffic onto the sea link. This includes twin carriageway of 3.315 km termed as main line and connectors at Worli and Haji Ali. While mainline is to be made of entirely precast segmental spans, the connectors will be made of segmental and I beams. A 10-lane toll plaza is proposed at the start of the section at Worli.