Mumbai: Even as the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) is trying to raise finances for its ongoing infrastructure projects, a 25km stretch of Samruddhi Mahamarg between Bharvir to Igatpuri Town will be opened to traffic by February, said Kailash Jadhav, Joint Managing Director (JMD), MSRDC.
According to Jadhav, only the girder laying of the vehicular over bridge (VOB) is pending. “All major works have been completed on this 25-km stretch. Our target is to open it to traffic by February,” he said.
With this opening, Nashik district portion of work will be completed
Anil Kumar Gaikwad, vice chairman and managing director, MSRDC said that with the opening of the stretch, the Nashik district portion of work will be completed. “Only Thane district work – the 76km stretch till Amane (Thane) will remain to be done. This remaining portion of the expressway is scheduled to be opened by July,” Gaikwad added.
The stretch of the expressway is a combination of a flyover, bridges, twin tunnels of 300 metre each, VOB and a crossing of the Mumbai-Nashik Highway, making it one of the most complex parts of the expressway, Jadhav said.
The VOB construction, he added, was challenging given the six-lane road below the bridge, which experiences constant traffic.
According to Gaikwad, the Samruddhi Mahamarg, spanning 701km links Nagpur to Mumbai, of which a 600km expressway from Nagpur to Bharvir, in Igatpuri, is currently open to traffic.
“This stretch was inaugurated into two phases. Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the 520km stretch between Nagpur and Shirdi in December 2022, and the one between Shirdi and Bharvir was inaugurated in May 2023 by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde,” her added.
