The commissioning of India’s first double-decker flyover in Mumbai was finally open to public on April 18, 2014. The project has been delayed by nearly four months, from December 31, 2013 to April 18.
Sources said six minutes is all it took from Amar Mahal junction on the Eastern Express highway to CST Road via the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR). Another six minutes and one was at Vakola junction on the Western Express Highway.
The project was developed by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority under the World Bank-aided Mumbai Urban Transport Project. The project is a part of the 6.4-km long Santacruz-Chembur Link Road that links east and west. While the link road comprises six lanes, the upper and lower levels of the 1.4-km double-decker flyover consist of four lanes for up and down traffic.
Gammon India Ltd is the main contractor for the project which is lagging behind by a few years and Louis Berger Group, Inc., USA, is the project management consultant. The estimated cost of the project is Rs.435 crore ($71 million).
The project comprised three bridges and a 300m stretch of new road. There are no high-rises on either side of the three flyovers. The SCLR has arms which connect it to the Kurla terminus and Nehru Nagar, thus making it the country’s first double-deck flyover.