Maharasthra govt clears three road projects between Mumbai and other cities

CM Devendra Fadnavis (HT Photo)

Your travel time between Mumbai and Pune is set to reduce by around 25 minutes in the next three years, as the state government has given a final approval to build the 13.3-km link between Khalapur and Kusgaon on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.

The proposal was cleared by the chief minister Devendra Fadnavis-led cabinet sub-committee on infrastructure in a meeting on Wednesday. The committee has also given final approval to the Versova-Bandra Sea Link (VBSL) and a third bridge over the Thane creek.“With cabinet sub-committee approval in place, we can now award the contract to the lowest bidders,” said Radheshyam Mopalwar, managing director, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

The Mumbai-Pune expressway link will start at Khopoli and through an interchange, lead to Kusgaon at the Pune-end of the expressway. Once built, motorists heading to Pune can avoid the ghat section, which is the most critical part where heavy vehicles slow down traffic. The work on the project is expected to start after monsoon, said an MSRDC official. MSRDC selected Afcons Infrastructure and Hyderabad-based Navyuga Engineering as the lowest bidders for the project.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO COMFORT

THE MISSING LINK The MSRDC plans to build a 13.3-km link on Mumbai-Pune Expressway, between Khalapur and Kusgaon, to reduce travel time

ESTIMATED COST
Construction cost (civil) of project
Rs 3,939 crore

Cost of building the tunnels
Rs 2,696 crore

Building the viaduct and bridges
Rs 1,243 crore

PROJECT DURATION: 3 years

19km
Original distance between Lonavla and Khopoli

13.3km
Effective distance between Lonavla and Khopoli after the opening of the bypass

PROJECT INCLUDES

TWO BRIDGES

1. 50 m height and 650 m length
2. 150 m height and 650 m length

TWO TUNNELS

1. Length: 1.75 km
2. Length: 8.92 km

VERSOVA-BANDRA SEA LINK (VBSL)

The VBSL was part of the Western Freeway project, which envisaged a series of sea links from Versova to Haji Ali and a tunnel from there to Girgaon Chowpatty. Also a part of the Coastal Road project, the link will connect south Mumbai to western suburbs

After the Bandra-Worli sea link was opened to public in 2009, plan for Worli-Haji sea link and VBSL were dropped

VBSL was revived after the Coastal Road plan was initiated by BMC

◼ 17.17km total length of VBSL (including connectors)

◼ 9.80km length of road between Bandra and Versova

◼ 8 number of lanes

◼ Rs 130 estimated toll

◼ 2023 estimated deadline

◼ Entry/exits points (connectors): Otters Club in Bandra, Juhu Koliwada, and Nana Nani Park in Versova

ONE MORE BRIDGE ON THANE CREEK

A third bridge will now come up on Thane creek which will run parallel to the two existing bridges connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai

2 corridors on the bridge

1.8km length of the bridge

Rs 560 crore cost of bridge

It will be a six-lane bridge divided into two corridors. One three-lane corridor will be located between the existing Thane creek bridge and railway bridge, and another will be located between Thane creek bridge and the old bridge, which is currently not in use.

NEW TERMINUS COMING UP AT VASAI ROAD
To decongest other terminuses on WR and reduce load on the Vasai Road station, a new terminus has been planned there

◼ 103 number of outstation trains handled by western railway (WR) on an average daily

◼ 20 outstation trains to be handled by the terminus daily on an average

◼ 2013 WR first proposed the Vasai Road Terminus

◼ 2023 The target set by WR to complete the terminus

◼ 4 platforms to be built at the Vasai Road Terminus

◼ 3 stabling lines to be laid along with construction of a new station building

WR plans to operate new Rajdhani trains from the terminus as well

OTHER TERMINUSES

4 major terminuses currently in Mumbai that connect it to different parts of India

These are: Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Mumbai Central and Bandra Terminus

ALSO ON-TRACK

139-year-old Parel workshop to make way for a Parel terminus

Rs 1,215-crore proposed terminus at Thakurli

Meanwhile, the lowest bid for VBSL was received from a joint-venture of Reliance and Astaldi, which has quoted Rs 6,993 crore for the project – Rs 1,477 crore higher than MSRDC’s estimated cost of Rs 5,516 crore. VBSL is part of the ambitious coastal road project.

An MSRDC official said the third bridge on Thane creek will come up alongside existing Vashi bridge. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) emerged as the lowest bidder to construct the bridge.

First Published: Aug 30, 2018 01:06 IST