The Eastern freeway will throw open the eastern waterfront of the city for development besides giving Mumbai’s central and eastern suburbs quicker access to the island city. The Freeway, from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum to the Eastern Express Higway at Anik-Wadala, will be a high-speed corridor that will enable motorists to traverse the entire distance within 20 minutes, thus saving nearly 40 minutes of travelling time.
“The first stage which was the construction work of four pillars of 16 piles at Nawab Tank Over Bridge has been completed,” said Dilip Kawathkar, Joint Project Director (public relation), MMRDA. While the Eastern Freeway will provide easy transportation for goods traffic, there will also be a sub- road on Mumbai Port Trust road and Fort Market areas.
The Eastern Freeway passes along Shahid Bhagatsingh Marg, Wadi Bundar along P D’ Mello Road and enters into MbPT area and finally joins Eastern Express Highway via the Anik Panjarpole Link Road . The length of the proposed project is 12 km from Museum to Anik, in Phase 1. It includes 4 lanes of elevated road of about 9 km long and also construction of a missing link. The second phase will be between Anik Panjarpol and Ghatkopar.
The Freeway is expected to be ready by December 2010 and is estimated to cost Rs 531 crore. It is funded under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The Centre will bear 35 per cent of the cost, the state 15 per cent and the MMRDA 50 per cent.