'Unclog SoBo's arteries': 24,000 voices call for new Coastal Road exit at Nepean Sea Road

Over 24000 residents from 121 housing societies from Malabar Hill Nepean Sea Road and Breach Candy in South Mumbai have participated in a signature campaign urging Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to approve the construction of an additional exitonly road from the Coastal Road at Nepean Sea Road The alignment proposed by residents for this lsquoslip armrsquo is proposed to be constructed just before the entry to the southbound tunnel of the structure at Malabar HillA traffic snarl at Cumballa HillResidents have argued that the only existing exit in the area is at Breach Candy Amarsons Interchange which leads to congestion of traffic in densely populated residential areas especially during peak hours They have argued that while the Coastal Road reduces travel time between the BandraWorli Sealink toll booth and South Mumbai to eight to 10 minutes it takes up to 25 minutes to travel 300 m from the Coastal Road exit past Mukesh Chowk in Breach Candy because southbound traffic exiting the Coastal Road converges before the chowk Residents have even identified a plot in the possession of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDC a portion of which can be utilised to construct the additional exitA senior civic official told midday on Monday evening ldquoThis alignment is possible when MSRDC hands over its plot for construction of the additional exitrdquoCitizensrsquo predicamentAccording to the BMCrsquos 2016 Coastal Road project report the Amarsons Interchange is meant to offload Coastal Road traffic to a large catchment area comprising Breach Candy Malabar Hill Kemps Corner Kalbadevi Girgaon and Bhuleshwar However traffic jams due to a large number of vehicles exiting the Coastal Road at Breach Candy are adding 25 to 35 minutes to travel time for a 300m stretch after the exit according to residents of the areaAn aerial view of traffic chaos around the Amarsons InterchangeRashi Gulati a Nepean Sea Road resident said ldquoTravelling from the Coastal Road exit to my home a distance of a little over a kilometre takes up to 30 minutes on heavy traffic days After the exit at Breach Candy the next exit is at Marine Drive about 6 km away As a result a large amount of traffic on the Coastal Road is offloaded onto South Mumbairsquos arterial roads The point of the project was to ease traffic and make our commute easierrdquoThe petitionIn response to the citizensrsquo campaign 48 per cent of the 121 buildings that have signed the petition to unclog Breach Candy exit are residents of the area followed by 40 per cent from Malabar Hill and 12 per cent from Kemps CornerA resident said ldquoAfter highlighting the issue and potential solutions residents have come forward in large numbers to enforce the solution We have obtained physical signatures from managing committee members of 121 societies Every resident has signed resulting in 5266 households participating in the drive with over 24000 signatures We have also received over 6700 online signaturesrdquoResident SpeakNandini Chabria member UnlockTheExit movementlsquoThe exit we have proposed for Nepean Sea Road will improve lastmile connectivity reducing travel time and easing movement for emergency services With multiple hospitals in the corridor by providing an arm of the southbound exit at Nepean Sea Road it will save time reaching hospitals NSR exit of the Coastal Road is that crucial missing link that will ease the entire corridor by distributing traffic evenlyrsquoLong time comingThe proposal for this exit at Nepean Sea Road was part of the original plan for the Mumbai Coastal Road Project1991 Development Plan proposed Nepean Sea Road exit2011 Joint Technical Committee reiterated this plan2016 DPR did not contain the Nepean Sea Road exit202425 Traffic jams experienced in South Mumbai due to the traffic from the Coastal Road offloading at Breach CandyMay 4 2025 Day residents submitted a letter with their proposal to Chief Minister Devendra FadnavisDec 2025 BMC wrote to MSRDC to hand over part of plotWhat have residents proposed1 A twolane exitonly road from the southbound side of the Coastal Road at Nepean Sea Road2 This is to be built on a 105m wide strip of plot in possession of MSRDC abutting Embassy ApartmentsWhygtgt The distance between the exit proposed at Nepean Sea Road and the existing one at Breach Candy would be approximately 2 kmgtgt It will help unload traffic into the city at two different points unclogging Mukesh ChowkPresent scenario1 The current exit for South Mumbai is at Amarsons interchange followed by the exit to the Coastal Road at Marine Drive before Princess Street Flyover approximately 6 km away2 The Amarsons Interchange offloads Coastal Road traffic to a large catchment Breach Candy Malabar Hill Kemps Corner but many internal roads have twolane carriageways creating bottlenecksFuture traffic pressures1 Residents have anticipated increased visitor traffic with the opening of the Coastal Gardens2 Intense residential redevelopment of the area is also expected to exacerbate congestionHow to read mapgtgt Circled is the current exit at Amarsonsgtgt The line is the proposed new exit292 kmTotal length of the Mumbai Coastal Road