Uttan-Virar Sea Link report to be submitted for state nod

At present, motorists travelling from the Bandra Reclamation end of the Bandra Worli Sea Link to Virar take two hours or more during morning and evening peak hours. File Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

The detailed project report (DPR) of the Uttan-Virar Sea Link is ready and it will be sent to the state government for approval, Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) sources told mid-day.

Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said, "The North Coastal Road from Versova to Virar is a transformative project that embodies our vision of ‘Mumbai in Minutes.' By drastically reducing travel time to just 45 minutes, the 55-km Uttan-Virar (Phase-1) corridor will not only enhance north-south connectivity but also enable citizens to spend more quality time with their families. With its innovative design, including a 24-km sea link and multiple connectors, this project reflects our commitment to building infrastructure that truly serves the people of Mumbai and the wider metropolitan region."

The 19.5-metre-wide sea link has five lanes, including an emergency one, and connectors at Virar, Uttan and Vasai. It will comprise the North Coastal Road along with the Versova-Dahisar and Dahisar-Bhayandar Link Roads. Earlier, the MMRDA was going to construct a sea link from Versova to Virar with interchanges at Charkop, Uttan, Vasai and Virar but later the MMRDA made changes in its plan as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had plans to construct a coastal road along the same route from Versova to Dahisar with an extension to Bhayandar. MMRDA sources told this newspaper that this will also help save the agency a lot of money, which it plans to use in the construction of the additional link from Virar to Palghar.

The sea link project from Uttan to Virar will provide a boon for the motorists heading from Bandra towards Virar and Palghar as they can use the Bandra-Versova Sea Link, which the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is constructing and from Versova, they can take the coastal road up to Bhayandar from where they can travel up to Virar. This entire stretch, once completed, will help decongest the arterial SV Road and Western Express Highway (WEH) in the western suburbs. It will also help reduce vehicular traffic on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway from Dahisar to Palghar.

At present, motorists travelling from the Bandra Reclamation end of the Bandra Worli Sea Link to Virar take two hours or more during the morning and evening peak hours as they have to travel via the WEH and Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway. However, once the coastal road network from Bandra to Virar is completed, it will take less than an hour to travel between the two spots.