The Santa Cruz – Chembur Link Road in Mumbai , shortened to SCLR, is a
6.45 km long arterial road in Mumbai, connecting the Western Express
Highway (WEH) in Santa Cruz with the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) in
Chembur. It contains India's first double-decker flyover.
The six-lane road was constructed as part of the World Bank-funded
Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) at a cost of Rs 454 crore.
The World Bank withdrew funding midway through the project due to
repeated delays, and the second phase was financed by the Mumbai
Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) with its own funds.
The SCLR was opened to the public on 18 April 2014.
The maximum speed limit for all vehicles is 30 kilometres per hour (19
mph) Halting or parking of vehicles on the entire stretch of SCLR is
prohibited. Entry is prohibited for pedestrians, heavy vehicles (except
any bus carrying passengers), all types of bicycles, tricycles and auto
tricycles used by the disabled, all types of animal carts and
hand-pulled carts.
The Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) is aimed to ease traffic snarls at Amar Mahal
Junction, Vakola, Sion and Kurla areas and will also significantly de-congest the Eastern and
Western Express Highways
The throwing open on this SCLR Project will also reduce traffic chaos at
Sion and Kalanagar junctions. This will enable commuters travel from
Santacruz to Chembur in a mere 15-20 minutes. The commuters can take
Vakola Junction road to reach the upper level of the Double Decker
flyover to reach Eastern Express Highway directly with the help of Amar
Mahal Junction flyover. The commuters will take the lower level of the
flyover and turn right to reach Kurla Railway Station and turn left to
reach Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.
The SCLR – providing three lanes each for up and down traffic – is expected to carry more than 80,000 vehicles per day.
The upper and the lower levels of the flyover provide two lanes each for up and down traffic.
The
Authority has also provided footpaths on the lower level flyover for
commuters who intend to cross over from Kurla Station to LT Terminus and
vice versa.
The Santacruz-Chembur Link Road project faced innumerable court cases,
various issues related to resettlement and rehabilitation, encroachment
etc. However, the Authority successfully resettled and rehabilitated
more than 3,500 families. This included residential, commercial as also
religious structures.
Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, commonly abbreviated
as MMRDA, is a body of the Government of Maharashtra that is responsible
for the infrastructure development of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
MMRDA was set up on the 26th January, 1975 under the Mumbai Metropolitan
Region Development Authority Act, 1974 Government of Maharashtra as an
apex body for planning and co-ordination of development activities in
the Region.
