Haji Ali to Marine Drive Interchange Opens, Final Coastal Road Arm Due in March
The Mumbai Coastal Road Project (MCRP) has achieved another significant milestone with the official opening of the seventh interchange arm connecting Haji Ali Juice Centre to Marine Drive. This new arm, which opened for traffic on Wednesday, marks a key step in the completion of this ambitious infrastructure project aimed at improving the city’s traffic flow and reducing congestion.
The coastal road project, which stretches 10.58 km from the Princess Street Flyover at Marine Drive to the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link (BWSL), is designed to ease traffic bottlenecks and offer better connectivity for commuters. The project incorporates multi-level interchanges at critical points, including Haji Ali, Peddar Road (Amarsons Garden), and Worli Sea Face. The Haji Ali interchange alone has eight entry and exit arms, providing improved access for vehicles traveling through this congested part of the city. Before the opening of this latest interchange arm, southbound vehicles accessed the coastal road through other interchanges, including the Worli and Amarsons interchanges, or directly via the BWSL. With the seventh interchange now operational, traffic flow in this area has seen significant improvements.
The final arm of the coastal road, which will link the Bandra-Worli Sea Link to Lotus Jetty-Worli Naka, is expected to be opened to the public by the third week of March. Once this final segment is completed, the entire coastal road project will be fully operational. A senior civic official explained that the delay in opening these arms was primarily due to the need to construct adequate parking spaces, which required additional time. In January 2025, the northbound carriage of the bow-string bridge connecting the coastal road to the BWSL was opened to vehicular traffic. This addition has been a major relief for commuters, cutting travel time between Bandra and Marine Drive to just 10-12 minutes. The Mumbai Coastal Road Project, which began in October 2018 at a cost of Rs. 13,983 crore, has already reduced travel time by 70% and fuel consumption by 34%, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). With the final stretch of this project nearing completion, the Mumbai Coastal Road is poised to significantly enhance the city’s transport infrastructure, providing smoother, faster routes for thousands of daily commuters.
