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Virar to Alibaug in 75 mins
This Rs 10,000-crore project could help ease the traffic pressure on Mumbai.
This Rs 10,000-crore project could help ease the traffic pressure on Mumbai.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), to improve the connectivity in areas surrounding Mumbai, has begun working a plan to build a multi-modal transport corridor connecting the far western suburb of Virar with Alibaug in Raigad district.
The corridor, which will cover a distance of 140 km in 75 minutes, will be a combination of a 14-lane road with a Metro railway line. A multi-modal corridor is a high-speed transport corridor, which integrates roads, rail, bus and pedestrian infrastructure.
The corridor will run through Thane, Kalyan, Bhiwandi and Panvel — all areas in Mumbai's neighbourhood, which have become part of the expanding Mumbai urban agglomeration.
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) was devised as a solution to decongest Mumbai. As the city could not house more development, neighbouring areas were opened up and developed to emerge as alternatives for further commercial, industrial and residential constructions.
The high-speed corridor, which will improve connectivity in the MMR, will be 99 metres wide and will comprise a Metro corridor, eight lanes for a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and vehicular traffic, four-lane service roads, two-wheeler lane, parking lanes and pedestrian walkways.
“A planned road like this will help in improving passenger commute,” said Metropolitan Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad.
This freeway will begin from Virar on National Highway (NH) 18 and will terminate at Alibaug on NH 17 via Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Dombivli and Panvel. The MMRDA will first have to construct 60 km of road network and will need land for increasing the width of the existing stretch of road.
The MMRDA is seeking private investment to help run this corridor. The agency has already shortlisted six consultants to undertake a feasibility study for the project. The consultants will be selected on January 21, 2010. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who had recently evaluated this project has asked MMRDA to try and complete the project by 2013.
Gaikwad said this corridor is being planned estimating the traffic growth in this region by 2031.
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