Underground tunnel to link Eastern Freeway & Marine Drive in Mumbai

MUMBAI: By 2028, motorists will be able to drive between Eastern Freeway and Marine Drive in under 10 minutes, with the MMRDA planning the island city's longest underground tunnel. It floated tenders on Saturday and will appoint a contractor in 3-4 months, an official said.
The 3.1km tunnel will have 2+2 lanes and cost Rs 6,500 crore. The project will decongest Crawford market, GPO and CSMT junctions as it will be like a bypass for traffic headed to and from Marine Drive. It will provide a quicker link between Navi Mumbai and Marine Drive for vehicles via MTHL and Freeway, reports Manthan K Mehta.
The underground tunnel that the MMRDA is planning between Eastern Freeway and Marine Drive by 2028 will criss-cross below Metro 3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) between Grant Road and Girgaum stations via S V P Road. There will be two-lane one-way ramps to connect Eastern Freeway and two-lane one-way tunnels to connect it to Coastal Road and Marine Drive.
According to an MMRDA official, the project will be beneficial once MTHL is also commissioned as there will be an significant increase in east-west traffic. It is expected to reduce travel time between Eastern Freeway and Marine Drive to 8-10 minutes from 30-40 minutes at present.
Explaining the challenges, an official said, "One major concern is utilities like water supply lines, sewage disposal pipes and storm water drain pipes, which were laid underground during the British era."
Earlier, the MMRDA had planned an elevated corridor. The viaduct was to come up at a height of 5.5m at Girgaum. However, many Ganapati idols placed in city pandals are of the same height or taller, and when they are transported by trucks, their height will invariably be more than the viaduct. Also, the work will have to be carried out above CR and WR tracks, a challenging and time-consuming task.
Besides these hurdles, there is also the challenge of paucity of space on the narrow stretch of S V P Road. Moreover, in this part of the city land acquisition in expensive and a tedious process.