Mumbai: The new north-bound tunnel of Mumbai’s coastal road opened on Tuesday, with 20,450 cars using it on the first day. On Wednesday, 17,910 vehicles passed through between 7 am and 8 pm.
The tunnel starts at Marine Drive and leads to Breach Candy. Right now, the cars are being counted manually since the automatic counter is not ready yet.
Traffic Details
Tuesday: The busiest time was from 7 pm to 8 pm with 2,080 cars. Between 5 pm and 6 pm, there were 1,770 cars, and from 6 pm to 7 pm, there were 1,650 cars.
When South-Bound Tunnel was opened in March, 16,331 vehicles used it on the first day.
The north-bound section is only open up to Haji Ali and it operates on weekdays from 7 am to 11 pm. Four out of eight interchanges are currently in use. Construction on the remaining parts happens on weekends and after midnight, so the tunnel is closed during these times.
Future Plans
– The entire coastal road is expected to be completed by October.
– The south-bound section from Marine Drive to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link should be fully operational by the end of July.
– The 10.6 km road costs Rs 13,983.8 crore, including Rs 9,383.7 crore for construction.
Additional Features
– A promenade will be finished soon.
– A jogging track, cycling track, butterfly garden, and other facilities will be build after the monsoon and take at least another year to complete, costing about Rs 1,000 crore.
– An underground parking lot for 1,857 cars is expected to be ready by December 2025.
