The Missing Link on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will open on May 1 – Maharashtra Day. The 13.3-km bypass connects Khopoli to Kusgaon and allows commuters to skip the Lonavala-Khandala ghat section, which sees heavy congestion daily.
What is the Missing Link?
The Missing Link is an eight-lane bypass that cuts travel time between Mumbai and Pune by around 30 minutes and reduces the distance by 6 kilometres. It includes two tunnels, one of 1.68 km and another of 8.87 km, and a 650-metre cable-stayed bridge at a height of 182 metres.
Around 1.5 lakh vehicles travel between the two cities every day. The ghat section at Lonavala-Khandala has long been the most congested part of this route, and the new link is designed to ease that bottleneck.
Why was 13.3-km bypass built?
The original 94.6-km expressway opened in 2002 and significantly reduced travel time between the two cities. However, traffic grew steadily over the years and eventually peaked, causing regular congestion in the ghat section, as per an Indian Express report.
“The number of private vehicles plying between Mumbai and Pune increased tremendously after the start of the expressway in 2002. The steady increase has now reached a peak, leading to traffic congestion in the ghat section of Lonavala and Khandala, causing inconvenience to commuters,” an MSRDC officer told The Indian Express.
The most problematic stretch is a 6-km section between the Adoshi tunnel and the Khandala exit, where traffic from both the expressway and the national highway converges into ten lanes on a narrow road. Landslides during monsoon have added to the congestion here.
Mumbai-Pune Expressway: History and conception
Before the Expressway, the only road between Mumbai and Pune was National Highway-4, a two-lane, 192-km route through hilly terrain. By 1997, traffic had reached over 60,000 vehicles a day and was projected to cross one lakh by 2004, making a new road necessary.
The six-lane Expressway was built in 27 months and opened in 2000. It included 17 viaducts, 26 underpasses, two railway overbridges, and a 5.7-km tunnel. Over 1,000 hectares of land were acquired for the project, the Indian Express report said.
Mumbai-Pune Expressway – What comes next
According to Indian Express, with the Missing Link opening, the MSRDC is now preparing to widen the existing expressway from six lanes to ten lanes. The new link has eight lanes, while the older stretch has only six, which means the older section could become a new congestion point.
The widening is also being planned in anticipation of increased traffic from the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport, which is expected to bring more vehicles onto the expressway.
A proposal has been prepared to acquire 100 hectares of land for the widening. The project is estimated to cost over Rs 5,000 crore, is expected to begin after the monsoon, and will take around five years to complete, as per the report.
Atal Setu
Separately, the Atal Setu, a 7.35-km six-lane sea bridge connecting the expressway, has already been operational and has provided additional connectivity for commuters travelling between the two cities.