The road widening work of an accident-prone narrow stretch of old Pune-Mumbai Highway from Nigdi to Dehu Road is expected to start soon.
The work was stalled since 2006 causing extreme inconvenience to commuters as the incomplete work created a bottleneck on the stretch, leading to fraquent traffic snarls on the busy road. The vehicular traffic on the stretch often witnesses traffic jams on this narrow stretch of seven kilometres between Nigdi and Dehu Road.
Executive engineer of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), AP Abrol, confirmed that the work of widening of Nigdi-Dehu Road will commence soon. The seven-kilometre stretch from Nigdi to Dehu Road had become risky as the width of that stretch is less than 15 metres since past ten years. The highway has a heavy flow round the clock and there is no road divider on the stretch. The stretch passes through the Dehu Road Cantonment Board (DCB) limits.
Several residential colonies of government servants, defence establishments, central schools and residential and commercial establishments are located along the highway. The local residents of Dehu made agitation demanding widening of the road recently. Whenever a mishap takes place on this stretch, the traffic comes to a standstill.
The vehicles travel on the four-lane stretch from Dapodi to Nigdi is free of hassles, but the traffic gets clogged on the narrow road after Nigdi. Therefore, it has been a demand since long to widen it.
In May last year, the MSRDC had submitted a Rs190-crore proposal to the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for four-laning of this 7-km stretch.
Along with it, a proposal to construct underpasses and overbridges at various locations on the Pune-Mumbai highway was also sent. Accordingly, the work will start soon, added, the officials.
