After 10 years of expectations , delays and, of course, hardcore planning and labour, the spectacular Bandra-Worli Sea Link is set to
open at midnight on Tuesday. Come Wednesday morning and a new day will dawn for Mumbai’s rush-hour motorists, with the Rs 750-crore link offering a new route between the island city and the western suburbs. Till now, the Mahim Causeway was the only route.

A fireworks, lights and laser show, coupled with music, was held on Monday night at the main cable-stayed bridge at the Bandra end. It was enjoyed by thousands from the Bandra promenade and Mahim beach, but was not clearly visible to those at Worli sea face and Dadar due to slight drizzles, haze and cloudiness. There was no space left at the sea-faces as thousands gathered to view the show, but those at Worli were disappointed, said Anandini Mulgaonkar and Shubha Sehgal of Worli and Bandra, respectively.

From 12.01 am onwards on Wednesday , officials are expecting joyriders to take the link before office-goers arrive in larger numbers as morning peak hour nears. With no toll from July 1 to July 5, a large amount of traffic is expected. The traffic police will face a daunting task at Worli and Bandra.

Overview :

Presently, the Mahim Causeway is the only link connecting the western suburbs to island city of Mumbai. The existing north–southwestern corridor is highly congested and during the peak hours results in a bottleneck at Mahim Causeway. The sea link will now act as an alternate route between the western suburbs of Mumbai and central Mumbai, in addition to the existing Mahim Causeway. This link will also form a part of the west island freeway.

Access will be controlled on the Worli end by toll plazas on the Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan Road, and on the Bandra end by toll plazas at Love Grove Junction.

Vehicular traffic measuring about 120,000 PCU travels on the Mahim Causeway everyday and during peak hours and it takes about forty minutes to travel from Mahim to Worli, a distance of about 8 km, which can be now covered in 8 minutes by using this link.

Features

* An 8-lane bridge with 2 lanes dedicated for buses.
* Unique bridge design for the Link Bridge to emerge as a landmark structure in the city.
* Single tower supported 500 metre long cable-stayed bridge at Bandra Channel and twin tower supported 350 m cable-stayed bridge at Worli Channel for each carriageway.
* Modern toll plaza of 16 lanes with automated toll collection system.
* An intelligent bridge with state-of-the-art systems for traffic monitoring, surveillance, information and guidance, instrumentation, emergency support, etc.
* Development of promenade and landscaping to enhance the environment.

Project Benefits / Other Features

* Estimated savings in Vehicle Operating Costs (VOC): Rs. 100 Crores per annul.
* Mumbai gets a new landmark.