For motorists who drive to Navi Mumbai, Kalyan and even Pune and Satara, here’s something to cheer about.
Acting upon its mandate to improve the transport infrastructure in the rest of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), the city’s development agency is exploring the possibility of constructing a road tunnel under Parsik Hill in Mumbra that will run parallel to the Parsik railway tunnel connecting Navi Mumbai and Kalyan.
This 1.5-km long tunnel will be a part of a 33.8 km-long road from Airoli to Katai Naka, making it the longest road tunnel in the MMR.
“We have called for tenders to appoint consultants for this project. This missing link has been a major worry for motorists — especially those who live beyond Thane. As per the comprehensive transport study prepared by Lea Associates for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), this link is now under consideration,” said Rahul Asthana, metropolitan commissioner.
The cost of the entire project is estimated at Rs770 crore.
While the consultants would come up with a financial model, senior MMRDA officials said it would be a cash contract project. “People will not be ready to pay another toll for this link. Hence, we will be mostly funding it on our own,” said an official.
Another missing road link suggested after the study is a highway corridor between Nahur and Badlapur.
Under the request for proposal of the MMRDA, the corridor includes major improvement of state highway number 43 (SH43), which connects Katai Naka Junction on Kalyan Shill Road to Badlapur.
“The corridor will provide direct connectivity to the southern parts of Thane, Kalyan, Dombivli, Ambarnath and Badlapur. It will also be a feeder to the Virar-Alibaug multi-model corridor,” Asthana added.
The highway corridor will have three lanes on each side and will be implemented in three phases. The first phase will comprise 12km from Airoli bridge to Katai Naka, the second phase will cover a distance 18.8km from Katai Naka to Badlapur and the third phase will be from Eastern Express Highway to Airoli, a distance of 3km. While phase one is a completely missing link, the other two phases will improve connectivity to SH43.
