Eastern freeway to ease traffic woes from Chembur to CST

This monsoon those traveling from Navi Mumbai and Thane towards South Mumbai will not have to twiddle their thumbs on Dr Ambedkar road that is synonymous with waterlogging and traffic jams The 1359km signalfree stretch of the eastern freeway between Shivaji Chowk Chembur and South Mumbai will be thrown open to commuters this month According to officials the freeway will cut down travel time by half and prevent traffic snarls due to waterlogging during monsoons PicSayed Sameer Abedi Reason The motorists will be able to use the eastern freeway that will be thrown open by the end of this month by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority MMRDA The eastern freeway will provide fast connectivity between Shivaji Chowk in Chembur and South Mumbai thus cutting down the travel time via the Dr Ambedkar road from almost an hour to 25 to 30 minutes The 929kmlong first part of the Eastern Freeway and the 43km long AnikPanjarpol Link Road will be thrown open together later in May The 1359km signalfree stretch will ease the commutersrsquo traffic woes to a great extent The road will also decrease the traffic burden from P DrsquoMello Road and Port Road This signalfree fast corridor is expected to improve connectivity between the Island city and eastern suburbs ldquoThe work of the eastern freeway is almost completerdquo said Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan ldquoIn a few days it will be thrown open for vehicular trafficrdquo When questioned about the opening date of the freeway the official refused to comment However highly placed sources from the MMRDA said ldquoIt is expected to be thrown open in third or fourth week of this month In the presentation given to the chief secretary a few days ago it was stated that the eastern freeway will be thrown open on May 20rdquo Travel tales At present motorists travel from Shivaji Chowk Chembur to CST Station via Dr Ambedkar road ndash a 20 kms stretch Traffic on Dr Ambedkar gets badly hit during the monsoons due to waterlogging in lowlying areas of Bhartmata Hindmata and Matunga Sometimes the traffic under flyovers has to be diverted due to the waterlogging With the opening of eastern freeway this problem will will get resolved to a large extent Expert speak ldquoThe eastern freeway project is an important project that will solve commuter and motorist woes to some extentrdquo said transport expert Jitendra Gupta ldquoOnce this road is operational it will not only bring down the volume of traffic on Dr Ambedkar road but will also cut down the travel time by half between Shivaji Chowk in Chembur and CST MMRDA should make sure that there is an arrangement for public transport on the samerdquo Twin tunnel Being the countryrsquos first and only twintunnel built within city limits it is expected that the eastern freeway will serve as a magnet for tourists Starting at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre hill it ends at Gautam Nagar near Panjarpol Both passageways in the tunnel are 500 mts in length Only one tunnel will be thrown open now The other will be operational next year The twin tunnels are 505 mts and 555 mts in length 17 meters in width and 10 metres in height There will be four carriageways in each tunnel The tunnels are 7 metres apart The motorists using the flyover wonrsquot witness bumpy rides when their vehicles pass over expansion joints of the flyover because special care has been taken by the MMRDA while carrying out the black topping of bitumen layer on road surface of the elevated portion of the eastern freeway Factfile The elevated portion of the Eastern Freeway is failry earthquake resistant and it can stand up to an earthquake of 75 Richter scale The elevated portion has been designed specially for heavy trailers or multiaxel vehicles 16 lakh cement bags were used for the construction of the elevated portion Steel crash barriers have been installed in the median of the road so that vehicles can be stooped from going into the opposite lane during accidents The 1359 km stretch has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 900 crore The work on the freeway began in January 2009 The remaining 25 km stretch from Panjarpol to Ghatkopar will open for public in the next four months Travel time Prefreeway Distance 20 km between Shivaji Chowk Chembur and CST via Dr Ambedkar Road Time taken 4560 minutes Postfreeway Distance 1416 km via Eastern Freeway Time Taken 2030 minutesu00a0