Thane’s Kopri Road Overbridge (ROB) will be opened for business from Thursday after Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde inaugurates the ground at around 1.30 pm. The induction of Thane Kopari ROB on Chief Minister Shinde’s birthday will relieve business traffic on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH) and let climbers cross the trace, officers said. The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has widened Kopri ROB to relieve business traffic on the Eastern Express Highway.
Two lane ground has been enlarged to a 4 4 lane, which officers say will benefit small and heavy vehicles on the track while also reducing business traffic. Erected at an estimated cost of Rs 258 crore, this design includes a vehicular rotary connecting Naupada junction to Dnyansadhana College and the proposed new Kopri station. The construction of the FOB installation for climbers to cross the Eastern Express Highway, and the enhancement of a box nullah, which will give a drainage installation for a stormwater drain from the being Chikhalwadi Nallaa to Sathewadi Nalla, was also accepted under the design.There were also scores of banners erected along the median felicitating the CM. The Kopri ROB, which falls on the Eastern Express Highway, was taken up for widening from four-lanes to eight-lanes in 2018. The work was carried out in two phases with the first phase completed and opened for business in October 2021.
The work on the alternate phase was on and was set to be complete by January 2023. The MMRDA, which is carrying out the work, has now set the induction date on February 9 which coincides with the birthday of CM Shinde, who has strong roots in Thane. “Commuters generally face a lot of business tailbacks, and a completely functional ground will bring a major relief to them. A major tailback business will come to an end with the opening of this ground,” said Umesh Kharat, 38, a commuter from Thane.
