Jogeshwari–Vikhroli Link Road
The Jogeshwari–Vikhroli Link Road, is a, 6-lane road with a central median in Mumbai, which connects the Western Express Highway and the Eastern Express Highway providing speedier access from Jogeshwari in the Western Suburbs to Vikhroli in the Eastern Suburbs. It was opened to traffic in 1994 and widened from two to six lanes in 2012 at a cost of. The under-construction Line 6 of the Mumbai Metro is being constructed on this link road.
L&T flyover on this road has a gravity hill effect, where vehicles seem to defy gravity with the optical illusion of rolling up the slope.
Route description
The corridor of land adjacent to JVLR on either side is being put to extensive and varied use. As the link road is developing into a major network connecting EEH and WEH, the land use pattern along the corridor has undergone a rapid change since it was opened to traffic in 1994. Open and barren wasteland space available in the western and middle sections of JVLR, and the marshy land area in the eastern section of JVLR, have been converted to residential, commercial, and industrial land use patterns, albeit gradually. The entire 10.6 km long JVLR, starting from WEH and ending at EEH, is usually divided into three sections in various study reports, possibly for easy reference and understanding. The sections identified include:Western section
The segment of the JVLR which starts from the WEH junction and ends at the Saki Vihar road junction is referred to as Section 1 of JVLR. This section, being located on the western side is also referred to as the western section of the JVLR. The length of this section is 4.9 km. The original carriageway of the western section of JVLR was a 2-lane road consisting of 7 m wide asphalted carriageway with 2.5 m wide shoulders. This was later widened to a 6-lane divided carriageway configuration with a central median. A concrete pavement was also built for the six-lane widened carriageway, and a grade separator was built at SEEPZ road junction. The western section of JVLR passes through a slightly rolling terrain, encountering a few steep slopes the.The western section of the road starts from east of the Jay coach Factory near WEH junction. From WEH, the road passes through a series of adjacent residential areas namely, Majeswadi, Pratap Nagar, Anand Nagar, Greenfields Society, Durga Nagar, and Sariput Nagar. Towards the western end of this section, a commercial recreation park called Fantasy Land was located, which has been closed and replaced by Oberoi Splendor Grande housing complex on the northern side of JVLR. Towards east of this, the JVLR aligns along Kamal Amrohi Studios, State Government-owned Nursery, the privately owned Matoshri Park, SEEPZ Industrial area, BSES Office, , and Larsen & Toubro factory. Between BSES and L&T factory, JVLR crosses over the Aarey Farm area, Mithi River, and BMC Water Pipelines. Towards the end of this section, JVLR aligns through Milind Nagar and Tungawa hutments, and meets Saki-Vihar Road opposite L&T Gate No 5.
The land use pattern along the western section of the JVLR is predominantly residential, especially the stretch along the western end of the section. the residential areas viz., Majaswadi, Pratapnagar, Anand Nagar, Green Field Society, Durga Nagar, and Sariput Nagar are located along the western end of Section I of JVLR. The middle segment of this section passes through an open hilly area and the Aarey Farm area. Milind Nagar slums and Tungawa hutments, on either side, mark the eastern segment of the section. Besides residential land use, other major land uses observed along this section of JVLR are viz, industrial, commercial, and recreational. Major Industrial area viz. Santacruz Electronics and Export Promotion Zone is located along the road at Km 3+070. The L&T factory located at the eastern end of Section 1, is one major industry located along the road. Towards the east of the SEEPZ area, lies an extension of the industrial promotion zone.
Middle section
The segment of the JVLR which starts from Saki Vihar Road junction and ends at LBS Marg junction is referred to as Section 2 of JVLR. As it is located in the middle of the entire JVLR, it is alsoreferred as the middle section of the JVLR. The length of the middle section is 4.3 km. Section 2 was re-constructed with rigid pavement for a width of 2-4 lanes width in 1996–97. The pavement was
widened in subsequent years with rigid pavement and flexible pavement in others. Section 2 was later widened by the BMC to an unequal width of 4-6 lane with rigid pavement, barring a length of
about one kilometre opposite the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay campus. The entire Section 2 was widened to 6-lane with a central median in the 2000s under the MUTP. Out of six lanes, four central lanes have been constructed with flexible bituminous concrete and outermost lanes on either side have been asphalted. In the middle section, the terrain is slightly rolling, but the road alignment passes over almost level ground from L&T factory to lITB campus. Beyond lITB campus, the alignment runs down over a steep hill further to meet LBS Marg.
The middle section is aligned along the south bank of the Powai Lake, and the section is also known as Adi Shankaracharya Marg. The initial portion of the alignment starts with staggered junction on Saki Vihar road near the L&T premises and passes between north of L&T compound and south of Powai gardens before joining the north and south ramps of the JVLR. The initial portion of the alignment from Saki Vihar acts as slip roads to the L&T flyover, serving the traffic dispersal from the Saki Vihar Road. The alignment after the end of the flyover traverses east skirting Powai Lake and the IITB campus on its north and residential areas like MHADA and Hiranandani Gardens, as well as the Panch Kutir market area and other commercial areas opposite to IIT on its south. Immediately after lITB campus, JVLR runs close to the Holy Trinity Church, a Gurudwara and the Kendriya Vidyalaya. After crossing lIT campus, the section further runs down over a steep hill to meet LBS Marg at Gandhi Nagar junction.
The land use pattern along the middle section of JVLR is predominantly Institutional, residential and commercial. Other major land use pattern observed is industrial land use along the western and eastern end of this stretch of JVLR. Powai Lake is located along the northern edge of JVLR. The significance and sprawl of the lake can be gauged from the fact that JVLR traverses along the southern bank of Powai Lake for a length of about one kilometre. Major institutions viz., the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the Maritime Training Institute, the Shipping Corporation of India, the Indian Register of Shipping, and private sector consulting firm SGS India Limited are located along this section of the JVLR. Hiranandani Gardens, a major residential township, is also located on the southern edge of JVLR, opposite Powai Lake. Besides Hiranandani Gardens, the Income Tax Officers Residential colony, the Coast Guard Officers Residential complex, the Indian Navy Civilian Residential colony and several private residential apartments lie along JVLR. Near the eastern end of this section and towards the southern edge of the JVLR, considerable sprawl of slums is also located behind the marble polishing and retail selling units. These slums are located in an unplanned and haphazard manner along the hilly stretches and hill tops. Solid waste generated from these slum residences is regularly dumped along the down slope of the hills causing immense blemish to an otherwise aesthetically pleasant area. The land value along this stretch of JVLR is constantly increasing and is considered to be one among highly valued locations in the metropolis of Mumbai.
Eastern section
The segment of JVLR, which starts from LBS Marg junction and ends at EEH junction, has been referred as Section 3 of the JVLR. This section being located on the eastern side is also referred as eastern section of the JVLR. The length of eastern section is 1.1 km, making it the shortest among the three sections. This section was originally a 2-lane carriageway constructed with bituminous concrete. It was later widened to 2x3-lane divided carriageway with a central median. A flexible pavement was built for this section of carriageway. The eastern section passes through almost flat terrain except for the elevated embankment of the ROB over the central railway tracks.The eastern section of JVLR starts from LBS Marg junction. Immediately after this major 4-way intersection, JVLR crosses over Central Line at about 100-metre distance. There is an existing 2-lane ROB on the JVLR at this location. The ROB is located in between Kanjurmarg and Vikhroli railway stations, which are located on the north and south of ROB respectively. Immediately after the ROB, on the eastern side of it and on either side of its embankment a sprawling slum area is located. The Tagore Nagar slums, located on the southern side of JVLR and ROB, is large in its spread and is well established. The area located on the northern side of ROB embankment and east of Kanjurmarg station, was identified as Relocation and Rehabilitation site for the Project affected persons of various railway projects, that were implemented under MUTP. The land area on either side of JVLR and between ROB and EEH is essentially marshy with wild grass outgrowth to large extent. Kannamwar Nallah and many other man-made drainage channels carry considerable amount of sewage and criss-cross the marshy land area. The Tagore nagar slums and rehabilitation site are essentially marshy land reclaimed sites.
Along the eastern section of the JVLR, the land area is almost vacant except for the slums near the Central Railway tracks. The marshy and highly degraded wasteland engulfs the road from either side for most part of its length. A narrow industrial land use corridor is located between LBS Marg and the Central Line and running parallel to them is also observed. Major industrial facilities belonging to Hindustan Lever Limited, Sprite Industries and Cadilla Pharmaceuticals are located within this corridor. A part of the marshy and wasteland site opposite Kanjurmarg railway station was identified and chosen for resettling some of the Project affected families affected due to the railway projects that were implemented under the MUTP. With the implementation of various R&R and CEMP measures for this resettlement site, the land use pattern along northern edge of the JVLR stretch was altered.