[JayPrashanth]

Link to News Section

Mumbai, the financial capital of India, is in dire need of modern day infrastructure that can keep up with the frenetic growth of the city. A city that attracts both the moneyed and non-moneyed classes of people from all across India in good measure, Mumbai is bursting at its seams. A prime issue in the coastal city is that of inadequate roadways, especially considering the fact that many Mumbai residents spend large amounts of time stuck in traffic jams.



To ease congestion in Mumbai, a slew of measures have been planned by the city's civic bodies, central and the state governments. One such congestion easing measure is the Eastern Freeway, comprising of an elevated roadway and an urban tunnel. The freeway aims to cut driving time from south Mumbai to the eastern suburbs, from 45 minutes to 20-25 minutes. With the soon-to-be-ready Mumbai Metro and Mono Rail projects, the Eastern Freeway is expected to do its bit for easing congestion in Mumbai.

The Eastern Freeway will connect south Mumbai (SoBo to many) with the eastern suburbs of the city. The freeway measures 17 kilometers in length, spanning 3 segments. The first segment, a 9.29 Km stretch of elevated road, connects P.D'Mello road in south Mumbai to Anik-Panjarpol linking road. This stretch of elevated road is the third longest in India, after the Kanpur Bypass Flyover on NH2 (25 Kms) and P.V Narasimha Rao Expressway in Hyderabad (11.6 Kms).



The second segment, 5 Kms long, runs from Bhakti Park to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue at Chembur. This stretch also has a 500 meter tunnel, which happens to be the first ever urban tunnel in the country. The first and the second stretches of the Eastern Freeway are now open for public use. The third segment, which is yet to be opened, will run from Chembur to the Ghatkopar-Mankhurd link road, and is said to become ready for use by December 2013.

The Eastern Freeway was first mooted in 1983 and it has taken 3 decades for the project to see the light of the day. Construction of the main freeway began in 2008. The freeway's estimated cost is about 1,250 crore rupees (including cost escalations due to delays). This sum is funded by the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), which is a central government fund for urban infrastructure improvement. Commissioned by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), construction of the freeway was contracted to Simplex Infrastructure, a private sector concern.

High points of the Eastern Freeway

• The freeway is signal and toll free.
  
• The freeway is restricted to cars and light commercial vehicles.
  
• Two and three wheelers, heavy vehicles (except buses operated for public transport), hand carts, animal carts and pedestrians are prohibited on the freeway.
  
• This is the third road in Mumbai that has been blocked to two wheelers, after JJ Flyover and the Bandra-Worli sea link.
  
• Vehicles are prohibited from halting on the freeway, which has a speed limit of 60 Kmph.
  
• The freeway is equipped with seismic arresters that are intended to help it withstand earthquakes up to 7.5 on the Richter scale
  
• Until now, 30.25 lakh bags of cement, 43,100 tons of iron rods, and 3160 tons of high pressure iron have been used for the construction of the freeway.
  
• 13 MMRDA engineers, 82 contractors and 1,100 labourers have been involved in the construction of this freeway.

Images courtesy TheHindu and PropertyNice

[silverado]

Few days ago while returning from Pune ( I stay at dadar ), i took the Freeway, thinking there was a exit at Sewri station, but it was not to be.

I completed the entire stretch from Shivaji statue in chembur to Orange gate in exactly 10 mins only, but had to come back to dadar which took 20 mins.

There was only one exit point at Wadala truck terminal which i am not sure if it has opened.

It would be a great ride if they open the entry and exit point ( 9 of them ) as shown on the website

http://wonderfulmumbai.com/mumbai-ea...e-and-location

[Animesh]

Excellent write-up with pictures. This definitely is the best Note on the Eastern Freeway by far (comparing it to Print Media).

I use this Fwy 3-4 times in a week and it is an absolute delight. The bottleneck ofcourse is the entire stretch of road leading to the Entry Point on P D Mello Road. While it takes about 40 minutes just to reach from Nariman Point (on a normal Working evening), the total time for traveling to Bhakti Park/ Anik Panjarpol Link Road exit at Wadala is just 10 min (traveling from SOBO to Chembur side).

[silverado]

Originally Posted by Animesh

Excellent write-up with pictures. This definitely is the best Note on the Eastern Freeway by far (comparing it to Print Media).

I use this Fwy 3-4 times in a week and it is an absolute delight.

Animesh, can you guide us about the entry and exit points on your route?

Also coming from Chembur side, is there a exit at wadala truck terminal?

[Animesh]

Originally Posted by silverado

Also coming from Chembur side, is there a exit at wadala truck terminal?

Let me try answer your second question first.
Coming from Chembur side, there is indeed a plan for exiting at Wadala Truck Terminus. However, it is under construction I believe (I have never gone beyond Wadala Truck Terminus as I stay at Bhakti Park in Wadala). The exit should be operational very soon.

Animesh, can you guide us about the entry and exit points on your route?

Look at Point A and Point B on this cropped map (and please forgive me for my terrible skills with MS Paint).



While coming from SOBO towards Chembur, if you want to exit at Wadala, then you need to take a sharp U-turn at 'Point A' towards left. This exit is just a temporary exit and one is not supposed to take this one when 'Point B' is complete. 'Point B' is what is known as Mahul Exit.

I take 'Point B' to enter from Bhakti Park (Wadala) when I want to travel to SOBO. Travel from Bhakti Park to 'Point B'. Don't take the ramp that continues up on Eastern Freeway. Instead, take the exit on left at 'Point B' and then take a U-turn on right under the Easter Freeway and then you would be on a ramp that takes you back to Freeway towards SOBO.

I hope it helps.

[hemanth.anand]

It must be a boon for Mumbaikars (Mumbai cars also ) I guess.

Can anyone also post photos of the first urban tunnel in the country?

I had thought that the Bangalore Elevated Tollway (BETL) was the third highest at 10Kms but later realized that this 10kms was as shown my car ODO.
As per the BETL website, it is 9.25kms; 40metres shorter than the Mumbai one(9.29Kms)

The 2 best things I liked about this are:
1. Its toll free. BETL is approximately 5 rupees per km
2. Bikes banned. Bikes on freeways are such a risk for cars as well as themselves

[normally_crazy]

Just a thought !

Having too many entry and exit points on the EF could actually slow down traffic once fully operational.

I have heard that the lanes are pretty narrow and near an entry/exit point - the vehicles in the left lane will have to slow down or stop till the vehicles entering / exiting have completed their maneuver.

[Vid6639]

From the photos it looks like the so called "freeway" is a narrow 2 laned elevated stretch.

To call it a real freeway it should have been 3 minimum. I don't get this logic of building just the bare minimum only to find it did not serve the purpose a couple of years down the line.

Same happened with Bangalore Airport and now with BETL. Sometimes BETL is piled up from Kudlu gate till the end in the evenings. Silk board remains a bottle neck and noone thought that with the BETL more cars will reach silk board faster than before creating a bottle neck.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

It must be a boon for Mumbaikars (Mumbai cars also ) I guess.

Can anyone also post photos of the first urban tunnel in the country?

Refer to esma1981's post below - last few snaps are of the tunnel. Also some really clear snaps of the freeway.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The 2 best things I liked about this are:
1.
2. Bikes banned. Bikes on freeways are such a risk for cars as well as themselves

A lot depends on the guy in the first picture. Bikes not being allowed on the JJ flyover is only a partially followed rule. I have seen (and driven unfortunately) bikes on the flyover numerous times. Stopped doing it since I came to know about this rule, but I still get to see a few 2 wheelers on the flyover at odd times.

Edit:

Originally Posted by Vid6639

From the photos it looks like the so called "freeway" is a narrow 2 laned elevated stretch.

To call it a real freeway it should have been 3 minimum. I don't get this logic of building just the bare minimum only to find it did not serve the purpose a couple of years down the line.

Going by @esma1981's pictures, the majority of the road seems to be 3-lane for each side; but with certain portions that are 2-lane (as in the image in the first post)

[esma1981]

Finally got a chance to get on to the Eastern Freeway today on the way to the TBHP Hiranandani Mini-Meet which turned out to be not so Mini but great fun. I think this is THE best thing to happen to Mumbai North-South Traffic. End to End can be covered in 12/15 minutes flat(After obeying the speed limit). Got a few clicks so I thought I should share them.

Further Details about the Freeway @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Freeway_(Mumbai)

Approach to the freeway from CST side. Immediately after the 'Wadi Bunder' signal on Reay Road.


The climb on to the Flyover. Cement Concrete Road surface similar to many roads in town.


Surface changes to one of the smoothest stretches of Tarmac in Mumbai!(As of 21:00 hours today)


Barricades in some parts probably due to Port/Indian Oil private areas.


Ghatkoper = Central, Vashi = Harbour. Boon for both directions.


Flyover just goes on and on...


Please keep your ENTIRE BODY inside the moving vehicle at all times. Yes, The car was moving.


Roads looking Bright and Shiney due to Monsoon.


Contrary to what You think, We are still in Mumbai.


Approch to the Tunnel. Only one Tunnel operational as of now.


Speed Limit - 30 kmph. Not sure how strictly it might be implemented.


Freeway ends with a signal after the end of this tunnel.

[sraye]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Going by @esma1981's pictures, the majority of the road seems to be 3-lane for each side; but with certain portions that are 2-lane (as in the image in the first post)

The majority is a two lane ( from Orange gate- SoBo upto Vadala). From there onwards its a three lane.
My experience after two weeks of using it : takes me between 25 - 40 minutes to reach the flyover ( starting from Fort/Sterling)..and then to Chembur in 10 - 15 minutes. The only irritant so far? Drivers who insist on driving in 1.5 lanes.

[Rehaan]

Here's a video that Normally_Crazy had shared in another thread just when the freeway had opened:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aiI6xvpvgE

cya
R

[Akshay1234]

By far the smoothest piece of tarmac in Mumbai. Guys do watch out when its raining heavily. On the flyover, some places near turns have puddles, so lower your speed to avoid aquaplaning. The puddles are totally unexpected in some places, I'm surprised they are forming.

[explorer09]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

From the photos it looks like the so called "freeway" is a narrow 2 laned elevated stretch.

To call it a real freeway it should have been 3 minimum. I don't get this logic of building just the bare minimum only to find it did not serve the purpose a couple of years down the line.

Same happened with Bangalore Airport and now with BETL. Sometimes BETL is piled up from Kudlu gate till the end in the evenings. Silk board remains a bottle neck and noone thought that with the BETL more cars will reach silk board faster than before creating a bottle neck.

The pile-up on BETL is due to the congestion that happens on Hosur Road all the way upto Silk Board. Had the BETL been 3-laned, the only thing that would happened differently is that the length of the pile-up would have been shorter but the time that it would take for a vehicle to cross Silk Board would still be the same or it could have made matters even more worse.

On a different note, really glad that the Mumbai freeway is toll-free ( I believe intra-city roads should never be tolled). Really looking forward to a drive on the freeway on my next visit to the city.

[Animesh]

Two major irritants
1. People driving at speeds much higher than the speed limits and then cutting lanes trying to knock you off the track. But hey, we are proud Indians. Two hoots to rules!
2. People driving way slower and clicking pictures throughout.

Btw, the proper exit from Wadala to enter Bhakti Park (SOBO to Chembur direction) is open now.