Ground breaking ceremony for six-laning of Katraj-Navale bridge stretch on Nov 15, Gadkari to attend
Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari will conduct the ground breaking ceremony for the six-lane road project from Katraj to Wadgaon on Friday.
Union minister Gadkari had in February 2019 approved the project to ease traffic on the Wadgaon-Katraj stretch of the Dehu road-Katraj bypass, where the Shiv Shrushti (Shivaji memorial) is coming up.
HT had earlier reported that the work for the proposed six-laning of Katraj to Wadgaon till Navale bridge was pending after the Central Public Works Department (PWD) issued the contract to a Gurugram-based firm. The PWD plans to build the six-lane concrete road replacing the existing four-lane road.
According to Prashant Auti, PWD, “Work will begin on the Wadgaon to Katraj National Highway (NH) 548 DD (3.88 kilometre stretch) soon. The government has sanctioned Rs 69 crore for it and it is likely to be completed in 18 months. Once ready, the six-lane road will have paved shoulders and a seven-metre wide service road on both sides. The Central PWD has prescribed that the entire width of the stretch should be 60 metres.”
The new highway route number 548 (DD) which begins from Navale bridge to Katraj, Katraj to Mantarwadi, Mantarwadi to Theur Phata and Theur Phata to Lonikand is a 45-km stretch of which six laning will be done from Navale Bridge to Katraj in phase one.
The six-laning of the road has become necessary given the rapid growth of the areas amid new projects coming up due to relatively lower land prices. The inclusion of Ambegaon into Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) two years back has also contributed in fast growth of areas surrounding the bypass, which is often clogged with vehicles, causing inconvenience to commuters.