Vakola-BKC elevated road on its way, expected to decongest WEH

MUMBAI: Motorists travelling to Bandra Kurla Complex from the Western Express Highway (WEH) will have one more access route as the MMRDA has decided to build an elevated corridor from Vakola Junction, over Mumbai University's land in Kalina.
Commuters now have to travel 3.8 km, through Pipeline Road, parallel to WEH, and bypass the government colony to reach Bharat Diamond Bourse in BKC.Another option is to take a 5km-long route via Kalanagar.
MMRDA commissioner U P S Madan said, “Mumbai University has agreed to hand over a portion of its land to build the elevated corridor. This will help us construct the four-lane, 1.2km long elevated road from Bharat Diamond Bourse.“
MMRDA will also construct a 400m long and 30m wide road near the University linking BKC to SCLR. In all, the University will hand over 34,715 sq m of land.MU's vice-chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh said, “The TDR generated after handing over of the land to MMRDA will be sold and used for overall development of Mumbai University , which will include construction of hostels, staff quarters, guest house, science block etc in an area around 3 lakh sq m.“
“The entire corridor will be built on the boundary of our land. Only the pillars will come up on the land. In effect, there is no loss of land except the vertical space that will be used to build the viaduct,“ Deshmukh added.
Madan said bids will be finalised for the project in three to four months and it will take at least two years to complete the project. Besides, MMRDA has also planned an Eastern Express Highway-BKC connector and Kalangar Junction improvement project that will feature a flyover linking the BandraWorli Sealink Road.