After a long delay owing to the unavailability of bigwigs to do the honours, the 13.59-km stretch will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan
After receiving flak for failing to throw open the Eastern Freeway -- which slashes travel time between south Mumbai and eastern suburbs to less than half an hour — till the VIPs make time to inaugurate it (No VIP, no Freeway, June 6), officials from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) have finally decided to throw open the Eastern Freeway after it is inaugurated by CM Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday.
Easing traffic woes: The 13.59-km signal-free freeway will reduce the travel time between Shivaji Chowk in Chembur and Orange Gate in south Mumbai by half; (Inset) MiD DAY’s report on June 6. Pic/Abhinav Kocharekar
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Sources from MMRDA told this newspaper that the structure would be open to the public on Thursday itself. The decision was taken after the planning authority was facing criticism for not opening it earlier, especially two days ago, when Mumbai was battling with submerged roads owing to the torrential rains. Additionally, the authorities were not able to get the top brass from the Centre to inaugurate the freeway. u00a0Sources said that on Thursday, Chavan will inaugurate the 13.59-km stretch at Orange Gate, P D’Mello Road.u00a0
Attractions
Also, the officials feel that the Eastern Freeway will be a unique tourist attraction as it is the first road in the city to have twin tunnels. Starting at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre hill, it ends at Gautam Nagar near Panjarpol. Both passageways in the tunnel are 500 m in length. Only one tunnel will be thrown open now. The other will be operational next year.
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