Thane Coastal Road-1 has crossed 40 per cent completion after 14 months of construction, with 501 girders erected along the 13.45-kilometre corridor, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) said on Wednesday.
The six-lane, access-controlled greenfield road is being built between Kharegaon Toll Naka and Gaimukh in Thane. The project is intended to provide an alternative freight and regional traffic route, reduce pressure on Ghodbunder Road and improve links between NH160, the Mumbai-Nashik Highway and Gaimukh along the Thane Creek coastline.
According to the progress update, construction teams had completed 332 of the project’s 426 working piles as of September 2, taking piling work to about 77 per cent. Work on the piers had reached 277 of 426, or approximately 65 per cent, while 460 pier caps had been cast for the elevated road structure.
Girder erection has reached 501 of the planned 1,632 I-girders, representing about 30 per cent of the total. Construction teams have also completed 13 deck-slab spans, MMRDA said.
A substantial section of the corridor will run on elevated viaducts and bridges. The project includes a 240-metre creek bridge and an 8.11-kilometre elevated road through areas containing mangroves. Project authorities have described it as the first greenfield road project in India to use a single-pile, single-pier system with monopile foundations on land.
The corridor is designed to carry traffic towards Thane, Nashik, Bhiwandi, Gujarat and North India. Officials said it is also expected to support freight movement towards Wadhawan Port, Jawaharlal Nehru Port, South Maharashtra and Karnataka once the wider network is in place.
A 40- to 45-metre-wide Development Plan road has been reserved as part of the project. The planned road is intended to help separate local traffic from intercity movement on Ghodbunder Road, which is one of the main routes connecting Thane with the western and northern parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
At Gaimukh, Thane Coastal Road-1 will connect with the planned Gaimukh-Fountain Hotel Tunnel. Officials said the coastal road and tunnel are expected to improve connectivity between Thane and Bhayander and further reduce pressure on Ghodbunder Road.
The project is also being planned as part of a larger transport network that includes the Thane Ring Metro, Thane Coastal Road-2, the Saket-Amane Elevated Corridor and the Kasarvadavali-Kharbhav Road. Once connected, these projects are expected to form part of Thane’s future mobility and freight network.
The latest progress update follows a recent meeting held by the state transport minister on the broader transport network, officials said. MMRDA’s next project milestones will include further completion of piling, pier construction, pier-cap casting, girder erection and deck-slab work along the corridor.
