MUMBAI: The Vehicular Underpass (VUP), a part of the Coastal Road project near the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, was opened to traffic on Friday. The underpass, which goes below the existing Abdul Gaffar Khan Road, connects JK Kapoor Chowk, handling traffic from Prabhadevi and Dadar to the Mumbai Coastal Road.After the cut-and-cover portion of the VUP, traffic is split into two directions: one towards Bandra and the other onto the southbound Coastal Road. Interestingly, this is the only vehicular underpass that is a part of the project.Apart from this, the 10 km road has around 16 PUPs (pedestrian underpasses) to allow pedestrians to go from the land or even areas where landscaping is being proposed towards the seaside promenade.Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) has been officially appointed for developing the open spaces along the Mumbai Coastal Road. It was in January this year that the BMC floated an Expression of Interest (EOI) inviting parties to develop and maintain landscaping, gardens, and the promenade along the Coastal Road. The EOI stated that this will require no financial commitment from the BMC, and the company developing it will not receive anything in return. RIL will submit its design to the BMC for how they plan to develop these open spaces. The final design will be approved by the BMC.Many local residents have been demanding the setting up of a Coastal Forest along the undeveloped stretches of the Mumbai Coastal Road, and a proposal regarding it was also submitted to the BMC earlier last week.
