Motorists were allowed access to the Mumbai Coastal road on Tuesday, a day after the project`s first phase was inaugurated by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, the traffic police official said

According to civic officials, motorists can enter the four-lane southbound carriageway from Worli Seaface, Haji Ali interchange and Amarsons Garden

Chief Minister Shinde on Monday inaugurated the 10.5-km-long stretch of the road at Worli in the presence of Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar and other dignitaries

Following the inauguration, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal said the partial opening of the coastal road will reduce the travel time of motorists from 40 minutes to 9 minutes

He had also claimed that the road would save nearly USD 100 million annually in carbon emissions through fuel savings

According to Chahal, the coastal road of 10.58 km length and 16.5 km of interchanges, being built at a cost of Rs 14,000 crore, consists of four lanes on each side along with two 12.19 metre diameter tunnels of 2.07 km length