Mumbai: The Airoli-Katai Naka road link will be ready in November, reducing the time of commute between the locations by about half an hour. On Friday, the last blasting of the tunnel to achieve daylight was conducted beneath Parsik Hill.
Once ready, it will reduce congestion on the existing arterial roads connecting Navi Mumbai with Kalyan-Dombivali areas. Currently, passengers have to take a detour from Mahape or Thane to go in either direction. “The project will reduce the distance between Kalyan-Dombivli and Navi Mumbai to just 7 km, which in turn will cut short travel time by up to half an hour,” said a senior official from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA).
The entire project involves the construction of two tunnels and a road. The Thane-Belapur Road to National Highway 4 stretch is 3.43 km long, while the Airoli Bridge to Thane-Belapur Road portion is 2.57 km long. Each of the twin tunnels is 1.690 km long and has three lanes as well as provisions for an emergency lane. The entire project is being executed at an estimated cost of Rs237.55 crore and 66.08% of the work has been completed so far.
