Mumbai: Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday inaugurated the completed Santacruz-Chembur Link Road (SCLR) network and Metro connectivity up to Chembur, while launching the second tunnel boring machine for the Thane-Borivali twin tunnel project and renaming the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) connector after former Maharashtra chief minister Babasaheb Bhosale.The 1.4km Bharat Nagar Road (Mumbai University area)-Vakola Junction elevated corridor, built under SCLR Extension Phase II, completes the 10.3km SCLR network linking Eastern Express Highway with Western Express Highway (WEH). The final elevated section provides a direct connection between BKC and WEH, allowing motorists to bypass congested stretches around Kalina, Vakola and Kalanagar.MMRDA expects the completed network to reduce travel time on key journeys by about 35 minutes.Fadnavis said eight links had now been completed around BKC’s G-Block, against six originally envisaged to address congestion. He acknowledged that the landing of the new elevated corridor near Bharat Nagar Road and Vakola Junction had caused some congestion on WEH, but said traffic was being managed.The chief minister also inaugurated Metro connectivity up to Chembur, with Chembur Metro station under Phase 1A of Metro Line 2B opening to commuters. The station is integrated with V N Purav Monorail station, creating a multimodal interchange for the eastern suburbs.Fadnavis said that once the city’s various transport systems were integrated, daily ridership could reach about 90 lakh.The third milestone was the launch of TBM Arjuna, the second tunnel boring machine for the Thane-Borivli twin tunnel project. It joins TBM Nayak, which began excavation earlier.Equipped with 13.34m cutter heads, the TBMs and were custom-built for Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd by German manufacturer Herrenknecht. They are tunnelling through hard basalt around 23m below the surface of Sanjay Gandhi National Park.The machines will create an 11.84km twin-tunnel corridor and cut travel time to 15 minutes from existing 90 minutes.
