Lure of free-access to coastal road on opening day frees up regular route; but will it become the norm?
Cadell Road, outside Jaslok Hospital, which is usually congested during morning rush hours was free of traffic. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
- mid-day travelled from S V Road in Bandra West to Marine Drive via the old route
- Along the route, team mid-day faced little or no traffic
- This was primarily due to the majority of vehicles opting for the Coastal Road
To gauge the traffic situation after the opening of the southbound stretch of the Coastal Road, mid-day travelled from S V Road in Bandra West to Marine Drive via the old route. Along the route, team mid-day faced little or no traffic in areas that are usually congested. This was primarily due to the majority of vehicles moving towards south Mumbai opting for the Coastal Road, leaving the old route free of traffic during morning peak hours.
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Team mid-day started out around 9.23 am on Tuesday from the signal opposite Lucky Restaurant on S V road and while proceeding towards the Mahim Church, got stuck in minor traffic due to the signal along this stretch. Later, it proceeded via the Old Cadell road towards Shivaji Park and further to Siddhivinayak temple.
The stretch from Chowpatty beach to Marine Drive flyover had almost no traffic
Along the route, there was some traffic between Indu Mills and Siddhivinayak temple, also due to the traffic signal and some road work that was in progress along one small stretch adjacent to the median of the road. The team reached Worli Naka at 9.58 am which means the distance of 7.7 km from Lucky Restaurant to Worli Naka was covered in 35 minutes during peak hours.
Also Read: Test Drive: How Mumbai Coastal Road will create new bottlenecks
For their journey ahead, the team took a right and got onto Dr Annie Besant Road at 9.59 am. While travelling towards Lotus signal, there was no traffic on this route as the majority of southbound vehicles going towards Marine Drive were seen getting onto the Coastal Road ramp leading towards south Mumbai.
Moving along Dr Annie Besant road, it was surprising to see no traffic jams on the Lala Lajpat Rai Marg stretch between the Lotus signal and the Haji Ali junction signal. It appears that the reason for no traffic on this stretch which is usually a common occurrence during morning peak hours was because the majority of the motorists going towards Marine Drive were using the Coastal Road.
From Haji Ali team mid-day proceeded further via Pedder Road and surprisingly there was no traffic jam on this stretch. Moving ahead, the Babulnath road was taken to get onto the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road towards Marine Drive and the team reached Parsi Gymkhana by 10.13 am. The distance of 8.8 km from Worli Naka to Parsi Gymkhana was covered in 14 minutes which was very much faster as compared to any other day during peak hours.
35 min
Time to cover distance from S V Road to Worli Naka
14 min
Time taken from Worli to Marine Drive flyover
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