Khalapur-Kusgaon expressway to shorten Mumbai-Pune drive by 30 minutes

To make travel between Mumbai and Pune smoother, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has decided to build expressway between Khalapur and Kusgaon. With this new expressway, travelling time will be reduced by 30 minutes.

The construction of this expressway will start from November.

At a cost of Rs 4,798 crore, the expressway will get tunnels and additional lanes to reduce the traffic.

With this new expressway, commuters will be able to avoid the ghat section, which leads to traffic snarls.

The State Urban Development Department has issued a notification permitting land acquisition of the stretch, which falls under the Lonavala Municipal Corporation.

The Cabinet committee has also given approval for infrastructure while forest department is also in the final stages of giving approvals.

The State Corporation will acquire 266 acres of land out of which 106 acres is private land owned by farmers and 160 acres forest land.