06 December,2010 06:23 AM IST | | Ranjeet Jadhav
Flyover on Dr Ambedkar road, connecting Lalbaug-King's Circle-Tulpule Chowk, will be ready by March 2011, assures MMRDA
In another three months, what is now a 45-minute travail for motorists riding on Dr Ambedkar Road from Byculla to Sion, will be cut short to 10 minutes, because they will be able to zip through on the flyover presently under construction on this stretch.
The Lalbaug-King's Circle-Tulpule Chowk flyover is expected to be fully operational by March of next year, says the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, the infrastructural planning body for the city.
At present, commuters on Dr Ambedkar Road are swamped with snail-pace traffic caused by the construction work, especiallyu00a0 during peak hours.
According to Joint Project Director of MMRDA Dilip Kawatkar, "It is true that the ongoing construction work to build flyovers is causing inconvenience to motorists.
But the work on Lalbaug-King's Circle-Tulpule Chowk flyover is more than 80 per cent complete. It will be thrown open for vehicular traffic by March 2011."
Wasim Sanjar (28), a daily commuter on the road, said, "Travelling on Ambedkar Road during peak hours has been a hectic exercise for the past two years.
I stay at Sion and it takes me more than 45 minutes to reach my office in Byculla."
The flyover, being constructed in two parts, will be 17 m wide with two southbound and two northbound lanes. The 2.4 km Lalbaug part of the flyover will cost the exchequer Rs 150 crore.
The 1.56 km King's Circle-Tulpule Chowk part comes with a price tag of Rs 72 crore.
The construction work for the flyover on Dr Ambedkar Road has forced motorists to spend a minimum of 45 minutes to reach Byculla from Sion
RS 550 cr
The cost of the 10 flyovers that MMRDA began constructing in 2008 to alleviate the woes of commuters
Rs 220 cr
Cost of the flyover
4 km
Length of the flyover
45 mins
Time it usually takes to travel from Byculla to Sion in peak hours
Work in progress
In order to palliate the city's traffic woes, MMRDA in 2008 started constructing 10 flyovers at an estimated cost of Rs 550 crore.
Out of these, seven flyovers are complete and have been thrown open to traffic already.
These include the ones near Thakur Complex, Malad, Dindoshi and the domestic airport in the western suburbs, one at Navghar Junction in the eastern suburbs, and two at Hindmata and Sion Hospital in central Mumbai.
The two remaining flyovers still under construction ufffd Suman Nagar in the eastern suburbs and Barfiwala Lane in Andheri are progressing at full pelt.u00a0
