With the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) giving a push to the outer ring road for Pune, the Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) too has expedited its process for developing the inner ring road. In its revised plan, the PMRDA has proposed 15 flyovers, two railway overbridges and five tunnels in a stretch of 88 km.
The 128-km-long inner ring road will help decongest the city roads by diverting heavy vehicles which now travel through the city. However, 40 km of it coincides with the outer ring road to be developed by MSRDC.
тАЬThe revised plan for the much-awaited inner ring road has been almost finalised and it will further push the implementation. The PMRDA has reduced the width of the inner ring road and will be focusing on constructing 88 km of the 128 km road as the remaining will be developed by MSRDC,тАЭ said a PMRDA officer.
He pointed out that the decision to reduce the width of the inner ring road from 110 metres to 65 metres was taken in view of the presence of the outer ring road barely a few kilometres away.
The inner ring road will be constructed in eight phases and it will have 15 flyovers with no intersection with existing roads, two railway overbridges and five tunnels for smooth traffic flow.
In a recently approved budget of PMRDA, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has given the sanction to revise the expenditure of Rs 14,000 crore for the project with a major share of the fund allocated for land acquisition. Thus, the metropolitan authority submitted land acquisition proposal for 5-km stretch of the inner ring road that passes through Solu, Nirgudi and Vadgaon Shinde villages.
Meanwhile, the MSRDC has sought proposals from contractors for the construction of the 136.80-km-long outer ring road to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 15,857 crore.
The outer ring road is divided into two parts that includes 74 km from Urse on Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway to Shivare on Pune-Satara national highway which will be known as Eastern Ring Road and a circular 63-km-long road from Shivare back to Urse that will be known as Western Ring Road.
The width of the road will be between 90 metres and 110 metres with three lanes on either side for 97.80 km while four lanes each on either side on a 39-km stretch of the ring road. The outer ring road will have 14 interchanges, 8 pedestrian underpasses, 6 smaller vehicular underpasses, 13 light vehicle underpasses, 37 vehicular underpasses, 28 vehicular overpasses, three railway over bridges, 16 major bridges, 38 minor bridges, 230 culverts, 10 tunnels, and 18 flyovers.