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Widening of Kalyan to Shilphata road to begin next week
With constant complaints of congestion on the Kalyan-Shilphata stretch, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) announced on Wednesday that it
With constant complaints of congestion on the Kalyan-Shilphata stretch, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) announced on Wednesday that it will begin the work of concretisation and expansion of the road next week.
The four-lane 21-km Kalyan-Shilphata road will be widened to six lanes to accommodate increasing traffic.
The announcement was made in a meeting between MSRDC chief executive engineer Anil Gaikwad, Kalyan MP Shrikant Shinde, and Thane guardian minister Eknath Shinde.
“The work will commence at both ends of the stretch, specifically the Shilphata side and the Rajnouli Naka side,” said Aniruddha Borde, junior engineer, MSRDC.
Initially, the MSRDC had only proposed widening the four-lane stretch to a six-lane one. Later it decided to also concretise it to ensure the road does not develop potholes during monsoon. “Now since the election is over, a meeting was convened in which we discussed the need to start the work without any further delay,” said Shinde.
In the first phase, the MSRDC will take up the work of building two additional concrete lanes, on both sides of the existing lanes. Once the two lanes are ready, the authority will concretise the existing four lanes as well. In the first phase, the authority will take up the work from Shilphata to Manpada Road, and Rajnouli Chowk to Durgadi Chowk, covering a distance of 10km.
Since part of the road falls under the jurisdiction of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), Shinde said that the civic body will have to acquire the land needed for the widening and hand it over to the MSRDC. The entire project will take at least two years to complete.
Despite the promise of a smoother commute, locals have expressed scepticism regarding the project.
“It is already very late to do the widening work. The authorities are claiming that the work will begin next week but who knows if they will complete it on time,” said Sunil Kedar, 36, a commuter who takes the road daily to connect to his workplace.
Thane traffic police had attributed the congestion to the increasing traffic volume, poor infrastructure, and potholed roads. “Once the road is widened and concretised, our team can emphasise on the free flow of vehicles. Presently, the four-lane road is encroached by hawkers and illegal parking,” said a Thane traffic police officer.
