Versova-Bandra Sea Link to be connected with 3 city roads to avoid jams

From October, work is likely to begin on extending the Bandra-Worli sea link up to Versova. Once done, the Versova-Bandra sea link (VBSL) will bring down to 15 minutes the travel time from Worli, in south Mumbai, to Versova, in the western suburbs — a journey that currently takes more than an hour.

And, to ensure fewer jams at the points where vehicles enter and exit this new sea link, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has proposed three connectors, senior MSRDC officials said. The connectors will improve accessibility to the sea link from key roads within the city, said Radheshyam Mopalwar, the vice chairman and managing director, MSRDC,

The first such connector will run between Bandstand road in Bandra and VBSL. Without this, motorists would have to come to the Bandra-arm of the Bandra-Worli sea link to reach south Mumbai or the western suburbs.

The other two connectors will link the Western Express Highway (WEH), which ferries a major chunk of the city’s traffic, to the sea link. One would take off from Juhu-Koliwada area and connect the WEH via the Milan flyover. The other would connect Nana Nani Park in Versova with WEH, near the Bisleri factory in Andheri (East) via CD Barfiwala Road.

“MSRDC has appointed Louis Berger Group to make a detailed plan for the connectors,” Mopalwar said. “It will be built along with the VBSL.” Senior MSRDC officials said the connectors could either be at ground level, or elevated, depending on the available width of the road.

The Versova-Bandra sea link is a crucial component of the coastal road project, a plan to connect south Mumbai and the western suburbs through a series of reclaimed roads, tunnels and a sea links. Nine years ago, the city’s first sea link – the 5.6km Bandra Worli Sea Link – was opened to motorists. On Tuesday, MSRDC signed an agreement with a consortium of Reliance Infrastructure–Astaldi to build the 17.17km VBSL from October. Reliance Infra CEO, Lalit Jalan, said the consortium was confident of finishing the work within the five-year period in the agreement. Reliance Infrastructure-Astaldi bagged the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for Rs 6,993.99 crore.

The VBSL will also have a 300-m long cable-stayed section, similar to the BWSL. The cable-stayed portion will be towards the Versova-end of the sea link. The sea link will have three landing spots—one at Otter’s Club, Bandra; second at Juhu Koliwada and the third at Nana Nani Park at Versova.

First Published: Sep 05, 2018 04:51 IST