Samruddhi Mahamarg's final 76-km stretch to open by November

The Samruddhi Mahamarg is a 701 km expressway that connects Nagpur to Mumbai. Currently, a 625-km stretch from Nagpur to Igatpuri town is operational.

The final 76-km section, between Igatpuri and Amane village in Thane, which will connect to Mumbai, is still under construction and is anticipated to partially open by August.

A senior MSRDC official explained to the Free Press Journal that close to 90 percent of the work is completed, with the 1.8 km Khardi bridge on the Kasara ghat section being the primary challenge. The 8-km-long tunnel has been finished. While the expressway is designed to be six lanes wide, it will temporarily narrow to four lanes at the Khardi bridge for the time being.

The official also noted that the entire expressway has three lanes on each side. Traffic to Mumbai is expected to start by August, with only the bridge section having a four-lane road, featuring two operational lanes in each direction. This is a temporary arrangement, and the plan is to open the remaining lanes of the bridge for traffic by November, thus making the entire expressway a six-lane project.

Formally known as the 'Hindu Hrudaysamrat Balasaheb Thackeray Maharashtra Samruddhi Mahamarg,' this 701-km expressway links Nagpur, the winter capital, to Mumbai, the financial hub, via Thane district.

Currently the longest expressway in the country, it spans 10 key districts and indirectly connects 14 others, providing a seamless link between Maharashtra's eastern region and the economically vital western region.

Styled as the 'Samruddhi Mahamarg' (Prosperity Corridor), the expressway connects significant economic hubs, including the Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Mumbai, the country?s largest container port, and the upcoming international airport in Navi Mumbai.

The Maharashtra government has proposed developing additional connectors or access-controlled expressways to link major districts to the Samruddhi Mahamarg.

In line with this plan, the MSRDC has started work on the 179.85-km Jalna-Nanded expressway. The agency has also issued bids for constructing two more access-controlled expressways: Nagpur-Gondia and Nagpur-Chandrapur.

These three expressways will link to the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg, improving road travel connectivity between Mumbai and the remote parts of the state.