E-Paper
Elevated 53 km Pune-Shirur Road to connect to Samruddhi Expressway
State government has decided to connect the elevated, 53 km, six-lane Pune to Shirur Road to the Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Expressway via Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
PUNE: The state government has decided to connect the elevated, 53 km, six-lane Pune to Shirur Road to the Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Expressway via Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The proposed expressway will begin from the Pune Bypass Road at Kesnand (Wagholi) and Lonikand.
The state government has approved upgradation of the 53 km route from Pune to Shirur in six stages. The proposed expressway will begin from the Pune Bypass at Kesnand and Lonikand, cross Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, and connect to Balasaheb Thackeray Samruddhi Expressway.
The project will be executed by the Maharashtra State Infrastructure Development Corporation (MSIDC), which is an undertaking of the Maharashtra government established with the support of the state public works department (PWD) for development of physical infrastructure.
A PWD official said, “As per the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in March 2024, the PWD and Maharashtra government will initiate all necessary measures to ensure commencement of the project within two years, failing which the ministry of road transport and highways (MORTH) may consider taking over the entire project in public interest.”
In a cabinet meeting on Thursday, it was decided to upgrade the national highway through Ahmednagar to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. This project, to be executed by the MSIDC, is expected to cost ₹7,515 crore for the Pune-Shirur Road with an additional ₹2,050 crore allocated for improving the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Road via the Ahmednagar Bypass. The total cost of the highway is estimated at ₹9,565 crore.
The new Pune-Shirur-Ahmednagar-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar greenfield expressway will run parallel to the existing Pune-Nagar-Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Road. The expressway will have six levels and will provide official entry and exit points to the cities of Shirur, Ahmednagar, Nevasa, Devgad, Paithan and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The total length of the expressway will be approximately 250 km.
Once the PWD completes toll collection on the Shirur to Ahmednagar route, it will be transferred to the MSIDC. Similarly, once toll collection is completed on the Devgad to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar route, it will be transferred to the MSIDC for improvement.
This elevated road will significantly reduce traffic congestion in areas such as Yerawada, Kharadi, Wagholi, Lonikand, Shikrapur and Shirur, cutting down travel time between Wagholi and Pune.
