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Seven years after its foundation was laid, the Eastern Freeway connecting South Mumbai with eastern suburbs is now fully operational. On Monday afternoon, Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan inaugurated the 2.8-km Panjarpol-Ghatkopar link, which is the third and the final link of the 16.4-km elevated Eastern Freeway. Constructing the INR 1,463-crore Eastern Freeway was the most challenging as it involved construction of a tunnel road through a small hill and creating elevated road of 23 metres at the Panjarpol junction. The Eastern Freeway was commissioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) in a staggered manner, with the first section being open for motorists in June 2013.

With all the sections of the Eastern Freeway now open for traffic, motorists from South Mumbai bound for Ghatkopar and vice-versa would be able to save more than 45 minutes of driving time. Today it takes about one and half hours to reach Ghatkopar.

Addressing the media after inaugurating the link, Chavan said the Eastern Freeway should not be seen in isolation but as part of other infrastructure projects such as mono and metro rail, which are drastically reducing the commuting time of Mumbaikars.

Chavan said that MMRDA has competed projects worth over INR 14,430 crore in the last five years and other projects worth ₹10,000 crore are under progress. For further improving connectivity in the Mumbai Metropolitan region, projects amounting to INR 36,000 crore are on the drawing board. He said that work on Mumbai Urban Transport Project is in the advanced stages of completion. Plans are also underway for building the third phase of the metro from Colaba to SEEPZ in Andheri.

Source-On Request