Minister for Roads Nitin Gadkari said that a 121-km long stretch of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad National Highway -- which has become a ‘death trap’ killing many, including the late Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry in September 2022 -- will be concretised and widened from next month.
The Minister was speaking at a function to celebrate the golden jubilee of Vasai Janata Cooperative Bank in Vasai town here.
Gadkari said that ever since the highway was constructed, it was beset with many accidents and he himself termed it as a ‘death trap’, admitting that he also experienced the difficulties while going there for today’s event.
“The 121-km stretch in the state will be concretised and widened at a cost of Rs 600 crore and work will begin next month. The upcoming Delhi-Mumbai Corridor will also be linked with Vasai so the people here cna get direct access to Mumbai,” declared Gadkari, amid applause.
The work will include three underpasses and 10 foot over bridges which would considerably ease traffic woes in the Vasai-Virar region, he informed Bahujan Vikas Aghadi President Hitendra Thakur, Kshitij Thakur, Rajesh Patil, all legislators from different constituencies in the Palghar district.
Besides the concretisation project, the highway stretch between Dahisar and Talasari will be widened from existing eight to 12 lanes, a 40-metre ring road will be built to connect four major towns within the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) limits, and roads of five cities en route linking the highway shall also be made of concrete.
Thakur and others pointed out that many pending road works in the VVMC came under central jurisdiction and it was only after constant follow-up with New Delhi that the projects were finally cleared by Gadkari.