A recent survey had revealed that about 8.4 hectares were required in the Majiwada-Manpada administrative ward. Thane-Borivali RoadWhile another 25.6 hectares was required for the underground tunnel link. A proposal has been placed before the Thane general body to replace the existing reservation on land, officials said.
Most of the land is currently reserved for a Botanical and Zoological Park, Thane Transport Depot and Road Development Scheme. Borivade also has a few residential patches and a green zone which will need to be changed to suit the project.
It may be recalled that a study of possible entry-exit points for the six-lane highway was done a few months back by several agencies including MMRDA, and is now being executed after the recent handover from MSRDC . Officials had then said that they were working on ensuring minimum disturbance in residential and green zones along the stretch.
As per the initial plans, the highway, with its 11-km-long tunnel, will connect Thane to Manpara and Borivali Near Magathen Best Depot, drastically cutting down on travel time. Tunnels will be drilled under Sanjay Gandhi National Park using tunneling machines. Each of the two tunnels will have three lanes for traffic and one for pedestrians. The estimated cost of the project is around Rs 10,000 crore. Presently, the route along Ghodbunder Road is winding and takes at least two hours to reach one way.
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