Pacific coast in Mumbai? Highway to Goa planned along same lines to be ready by 2019

When the project was announced in 2016, Gadkari had said the work will be completed by 2018.

The proposed concrete four-laning of the Mumbai-Goa highway will be completed by March 2019, Union minister for road, transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said at an event in Mumbai on Friday. He said the Centre was planning to develop a coastal highway between Mumbai and Goa on the lines of the Los Angeles-San Francisco Pacific Coast Highway in the United States.

Union minister for road, transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said the Centre was planning to develop a coastal highway between Mumbai and Goa on the lines of the Los Angeles-San Francisco Pacific Coast Highway in the United States. (HT FILE)

Gadkari said, “Work orders for the project [four-laning] have been given and the works have started. The road should be ready before March 2019.” He also said the project, meant to cut the travel time between Mumbai and Goa to six hours, was delayed owing to problems in land acqusition. “Around 90% of the land acquisition has been completed now,” he said.

When the project was announced in 2016, Gadkari had said the work will be completed by 2018.

At a press interaction, Gadkari said the Centre plans to develop a Mumbai-Goa coastal highway. “All required agencies have already been given instructions,” Gadkari said.

The highway that will connect areas along the states of Maharashtra and Goa is expected to boost tourism along the Konkan belt.