Santa Cruz-Chembur road to make Kalanagar tunnel plan redundant.

The Kalanagar underpass project has been put on hold as the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority expects the it to be made redundant by the Santa Cruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) that is nearing completion.

The logic is that the SCLR will provide a better alternative to the route via Kalanagar junction when it comes to travelling between the Western Express Highway (WEH) and the Eastern Express Highway (EEH). As a result, the Kalanagar junction is expected to see less traffic and there may be no need to go ahead with the tunnel project to decongest the junction.

The SCLR is expected to be completed by March and MMRDA plans to see the impact on traffic at Kalanagar junction before taking a decision on the tunnel project.

The SCLR is an important east-west corridor that will pass through Kalina and CST road. It will have access and entry points at CST Road, Amar Mahal Junction, Nehru Nagar and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus.

'Most vehicles that come to Kalanagar junction travel to eastern suburbs via the Sion-Dharavi Link road,' a senior official said. 'Once, the SCLR is opened to vehicular traffic, it will take away a major chunk of traffic from Kalanagar.'

Another official said even motorists from as far as Andheri would prefer the SCLR as the new corridor is wider than other roads.

'There are also fewer intersections on SCLR,' the official said.



TIMES OF INDIA