Kailash Jadhav, the Joint Managing Director (JMD) of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), announced that the Bharvir to Igatpuri Town section of Samruddhi Mahamarg, spanning 25 kilometers, is scheduled to be accessible to traffic by February.
Jadhav mentioned, “The only remaining task is the installation of girders for the vehicular over bridge (VOB). All other major construction works have concluded on this 25-kilometer stretch. Our goal is to open it to traffic by February.” Describing the complexity of this expressway section, Jadhav added, “This 25-km stretch comprises a combination of a flyover, bridges, VOB, twin tunnels of 300 meters each, and a crossing of the old Mumbai Nashik Highway, making it one of the most intricate parts of the expressway.”
The construction of the VOB posed challenges due to the continuous traffic flow on the six-lane road beneath the bridge. The Samruddhi Mahamarg, a 701 km corridor connecting Nagpur to Mumbai, includes a 600-km expressway from Nagpur to Bharvir in Igatpuri, which is currently operational. The inauguration of this stretch took place in two phases. The first phase, covering the 520 km distance between Nagpur and Shirdi, was officially opened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2022. Subsequently, the stretch between Shirdi and Bharvir was inaugurated in May 2023 by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Jadhav said that with the opening of the 25-km stretch, the Nashik district portion of work will be completed, and only Thane district work will remain to be done. With this, the remaining 76-km stretch till Amane, Thane will remain to be completed. This remaining portion of the expressway is set to be opened by July, he added.