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Mumbai’s trans harbour roads links earn praise for innovation
The undersea road cuts travel time between connecting Marine Drive and Haji Ali from 40 minutes to just eight.
The underground section of the coastal highway emerges on Marine Drive / Courtesy Photo
The opening of one of India's most cutting-edge high-speed road corridors in Mumbai has garnered praise from urban planners around the globe for its socially motivated, mostly toll-free urban development. For initial operations, the highway will be accessible to normal traffic five days a week between the hours of 7 am and 11 pm (local time).
Earlier this week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Shinde, along with Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar rode a vintage Rolls Royce car to mark the formal inauguration of the north-bound arm of the Dharamveer Swaraj Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Mumbai Coastal Road, connecting Marine Drive to Haji Ali.
India's first undersea road tunnel: Marine Drive to Haji Ali in Just 8 Minutes
The undersea road is a high speed corridor that will connect Bandra Worli Sea Link with Marine Drive through a series of tunnels, vehicular interchanges and bridges.
Shinde said, "The second phase of Dharmveer Swarajya Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Coastal Road has been opened. This tunnel is 6.25 km long from Haji Ali and Amarsons. In July, this will open till Worli. Advanced technology has been used in the construction of this tunnel. The travel time will reduce to 8 minutes from 40-50 minutes..."
According to the authorities, the remaining stretch from Haji Ali to Bindumadhav Thackeray Chowk at Worli—is likely to be thrown open on July 10 after the construction work gets over. Almost 80 percent work on this section is complete. The work on the stretch linking the coastal road and Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL) is expected to be completed by October.
Once the entire corridor is ready, it will cut the travel time by about 70 percent and reduce the fuel consumption by 34 percent. The value of the entire project is estimated to be around INR 13,984 crore (approx. $1,678,000.)
Mumbai Trans Harbour Link: Longest sea bridge in India
More daring in concept, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, officially named as Atal Bihari Vajpayee Sewri–Nhava Sheva Atal Setu and colloquially known as Atal Setu, is a 21.8 km (13.5 mile) 6-lane grade-separated expressway bridge, which connects Mumbai with Navi Mumbai, its satellite city. It is the longest sea bridge in India, and the world's 12th longest sea bridge.
The bridge begins in Sewri, South Mumbai, crosses Thane Creek north of Elephanta Island, and terminates at Chirle near Nhava Sheva in Uran taluka, Navi Mumbai. The road is linked to the Mumbai–Pune Expressway in the east and to the Coastal Road in the west.
The 6-lane highway is 27 meters in width, in addition to two emergency exit lanes, two edge strips, parallel crash barriers and noise barriers on both sides. The project costs a total of INR 17,843 crore (US$2.1 billion). The bridge has a capacity to handle 70,000 vehicles per day. Construction on the bridge began in April 2018.
In 2015, the project was approved by the Government of India and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The construction was finally completed in December 2023, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12, 2024. This a tolled road charging cars around INR 200 ($2.5) and larger vehicles less than INR 2000 ($23).
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