Igatpuri to Amane in 40 Minutes with Samruddhi Mahamarg: Delays Plague the Final Stretch Opening
Igatpuri to Amane in 40 Minutes with Samruddhi Mahamarg: Delays Plague the Final Stretch Opening
The much-anticipated 76-km stretch from Igatpuri to Amane faces postponement due to ongoing construction work.
The opening of the final 76-km stretch of the Samruddhi Mahamarg, running from Igatpuri to Amane in Thane, has been delayed, as announced by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The stretch was initially expected to open by September-October, following the completion of the 84-meter-high one-arm bridge at Shahpur, which stands as tall as a 28-story building. However, the opening has been postponed until all roadworks are fully completed.
Anil Kumar Gaikwad, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of MSRDC, cited ongoing construction on a critical 1-kilometre segment connecting Amane to the Sangrilla Resort on the old Mumbai-Nashik Highway as the main reason for the delay. This segment is part of a larger 4.5-km stretch under the Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway project, which is currently being executed by MSRDC for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and is expected to be completed by November.
While 3.5 km of this road is already finished, the remaining 1 km involves the demolition and relocation of several warehouses and godowns, causing additional delays. Gaikwad emphasized that opening the Samruddhi Mahamarg without completing the Vadodara-Mumbai JNPT road could lead to significant traffic problems.
Once the stretch is operational, it will cut the travel time between Amane and Igatpuri to just 40 minutes, compared to the current 90 minutes on the old route. Currently, 625 km of the 701-km Samruddhi Mahamarg is open to traffic, with the entire corridor set to offer a drastically reduced travel time from Nagpur to Amane in Thane in just eight hours—a journey that previously took approximately 16 hours.
