- By Aditya Jha
- Mon, 13 Jan 2025 05:00 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has announced that it is set to start the construction of a new expressway that will connect Pagote near the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) to Chauk Junction. It stated that the 30 km expressway will connect JNPT to the old Pune Highway. It further stated that the new corridor is likely to improve connectivity between Mumbai and other prominent areas, including Goa, Pune, and Navi Mumbai.
The project is expected to enhance travel time between the Atal Setu landing point in Navi Mumbai and the hyped Goa Highway. The estimated cost of the whole project is Rs 3,700 crore, and it will be constructed over a 30-km stretch, the Times of India reported. The report also suggested that the expressway is also likely to reduce the travel time from Mumbai to the highway going towards Goa by 20-30 minutes.
The NHAI stated that the project will begin at Pagote and will continue along the Urban-Chirner Highway. It will further merge with the Goa Highway and Pune Expressway further. It further stated that the expressway will have many entry and exit points along the way. It will significantly improve the ease of travel in these areas.
The authority further stated that the new expressway will connect with the Coastal Road and the famous Sea Link near Worli in Mumbai. It further stated that the plan is to extend the new expressway to the Alibaug-Virar Multimodal Corridor, Murbad-Junnar Highway, Samruddhi Expressway, and the Nashik Highway near Padgha. Apart from this, the expressway will connect to the Vadodara-Mumbai Greenfield Expressway, an important part of the much-hyped Delhi-Mumbai Corridor project.
The authority stated that the initial phase of the project is expected to be finished in the next 30 months. The construction work for the ambitious project is likely to begin in the next seven months. The expressway will play an important role in financial and logistical growth in these regions.