More than 24,000 residents from 121 housing societies across Malabar Hill, Nepean Sea Road and Breach Candy have launched a large-scale signature campaign urging Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to approve an additional exit from Mumbai’s Coastal Road at Nepean Sea Road. Citizens argue that the proposed “slip arm” is essential to ease mounting congestion in South Mumbai and improve last-mile connectivity in the area.
The proposed exit-only connector would branch off just before the southbound tunnel entrance near Malabar Hill. Residents claim that the current traffic arrangement has created severe bottlenecks around Breach Candy and Mukesh Chowk, where vehicles exiting the Coastal Road merge onto narrow internal roads during peak hours. While the Coastal Road has reduced travel time between the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and South Mumbai to nearly 8–10 minutes, commuters reportedly spend an additional 25 minutes covering barely 300 metres after exiting at Amarsons Interchange.
Residents have identified a plot owned by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) that could partially accommodate the proposed connector. A senior civic official said, “This alignment is possible when MSRDC hands over its plot for construction of the additional exit.”
According to residents, the Amarsons Interchange currently handles traffic headed towards Breach Candy, Malabar Hill, Kemps Corner, Kalbadevi and Girgaon, placing enormous pressure on already narrow carriageways. Rashi Gulati, a resident of Nepean Sea Road, said, “Travelling 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 Mumbai’s arterial roads. The point of the project was to ease traffic and make our commute easier.”
The citizen-led campaign, called UnlockTheExit, has gathered signatures from more than 5,266 households and over 6,700 online supporters. Nandini Chabria, a member of the movement, said, “The exit we have proposed for Nepean Sea Road will improve last-mile 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 evenly.”
The proposed exit was originally part of the 1991 Development Plan and was reiterated by a Joint Technical Committee in 2011, but it was eventually excluded from the 2016 Detailed Project Report for the Mumbai Coastal Road.
Source: Mid-day
