The traffic congestion on Ghodbunder Road is set to ease in the near future. On July 2, the MMRDA authority held a meeting where two key projects received approval: an underground road from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction and an elevated road from Fountain Hotel Junction to Bhayander.
The stretch from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction on Ghodbunder Road currently has a four-lane road. This section is a bottleneck, causing severe traffic congestion due to its connection to the wide Thane city and National Highway segments. Additionally, the area has a ghat section, where heavy vehicle traffic further slows down movement. To address this issue, road widening is necessary. However, due to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park on one side and the Thane Creek on the other, widening is not feasible, making an underground road essential.
Similarly, the section from Bhayander to Fountain Hotel Junction also faces significant traffic congestion. With the Mumbai Municipal Corporation working on the Versova to Bhayander project, internal roads will be used to connect Bhayander to Ghodbunder Road. Considering the mangrove areas along the creek, an elevated road from Bhayander to Fountain Hotel Junction is necessary to alleviate traffic jams.
Residents traveling from Thane city via Ghodbunder Road to Vasai, Virar, Mira Road, and Bhayander face significant traffic congestion. MLA Pratap Sarnaik has been advocating for the construction of an underground road from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction and an elevated road from Bhayander to Fountain Hotel Junction for the past 7-8 years. His efforts have borne fruit, with the MMRDA approving the projects in their recent meeting. The MMRDA Commissioner, Sanjay Mukherjee, sanctioned the construction of an underground road from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction and an elevated road from Fountain Hotel Junction to Bhayander to facilitate faster travel from Gaimukh to Vasai, Mira Road, and Bhayander.
The underground road project from Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction is estimated to cost ₹11,500 crores, and the elevated road from Bhayander to Fountain Hotel Junction is expected to cost ₹8,500 crores, with a total expenditure of around ₹20,000 crores for both projects. The Gaimukh to Fountain Hotel Junction underground road will span 5.5 kilometers, featuring two separate tunnels, each 3.5 kilometers long, with three lanes each. The elevated road from Bhayander to Fountain Hotel Junction will be 10 kilometers long and have eight lanes, four in each direction.
These projects will significantly reduce traffic congestion for commuters traveling from Thane to Vasai, Virar, Mira Road, and Bhayander in the future.