Pune: The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) will build three elevated highway corridors on the Mumbai, Solapur and Ahilyanagar highways to reduce traffic congestion in and around Pune.
The projects, estimated to cost around Rs 18,000 crore, will have a toll of Rs 9 per kilometre for 25 years, Pune District Collector Jitendra Dudi announced on Friday.
The announcement was made at a joint press conference attended by MSRDC Managing Director Brijesh Dixit, Chief Engineer Ranjit Hande, Executive Engineer Anil Sagar and District Collector Jitendra Dudi.
Officials said around 100 hectares of land will be acquired for the three projects. Two of the elevated corridors will also include dedicated Metro alignments to improve public transport connectivity.
The foundation stone for the projects will be laid on Saturday at Ganesh Kala Krida Manch in Pune. Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will attend the event.
The Pune–Shirur Elevated Expressway will be a 53.4-km, six-lane corridor. It will also include a 7.4 km dedicated metro corridor between Kharadi Bypass and Vitthalwadi.
The Hadapsar–Yavat corridor will be 31.5 km long and will include a 17.76-km elevated section between Hadapsar and the MSRDC Ring Road with Metro infrastructure. The elevated road will start from Ravidarshan Chowk near Hadapsar Gadital and extend to Sahajpur, while the remaining stretch up to Yavat will be a six-lane road at ground level.
About 15 km of land will be acquired for the Hadapsar–Yavat project. Five toll plazas have been planned, including two on the ground-level section.
Officials said the elevated highway network is expected to reduce travel time, improve traffic flow and strengthen connectivity between Pune and its fast-growing suburban and industrial areas.
