The Urban Development Department has scrapped the former Congress-NCP government’s ambitious ‘Central Island Expressway’ supposed to connect Girgaon Chowpatty, Lalbaug and Sion to decongest traffic in the island city.
Cancellation of the project has de-notified several areas in south and central Mumbai from Pandita Ramabai Marg near Girgaon Chowpatty to Keshavrao Khadye Marg to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road in Lalbaug to Sion Road, paving the way for huge redevelopment. Earlier, with these areas notified under the project, redevelopment of prime properties was stuck. It is being said that after drawing flak for proposed amendments to the Rent Control Act, the government took a U-turn and abandoned the Central Island Express Way in order to pacify tenants in old buildings.
In a notification issued on Thursday, the Urban Development Department (UDD) said, “The nomenclature as Central Island Express Way on the said plan is proposed to be deleted.” The notification said the decision was taken based on recommendations by the BMC Commissioner dated July 15, 2015, where he said that the expressway is not feasible. The MMRDA also gave negative feedback saying that Metro Rail/Mono Rail projects will improve the public transport system hence the scope of Central Island Express Way needs to be modified.
The UDD also considered that many buildings, especially cessed buildings which are old and in a dilapidated condition in the notified area, need redevelopment. The proposed expressway however has halted development. Sources in the UDD hinted that a few developers had demanded de-notification of prime properties along the proposed expressway for redevelopment.
“Various transportation modes have been proposed in the island city like metro rail, mono rail to decongest the traffic. The Central Island Express Way was proposed to ease traffic woes. But a major part of the said express way has flyovers helping better connectivity. There is an eastern freeway giving alternative to traffic on the island city. Considering the existing options for transportation, it was decided to scrap Central Island Express Way,” said an UDD official.
