Mumbai–Pune Expressway

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The Mumbai–Pune Expressway, officially called the Yashwantrao Chavan Expressway, is India’s first six-lane, fully access-controlled tolled highway. It runs about 94.5 km from Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai to Kiwale in Pune, linking Mumbai with Pune in Maharashtra. Opened in 2002, it has drastically cut travel time and reduced congestion on the old NH 48.

The road climbs through the Sahyadri hills, using tunnels and five interchanges: Kon (Shedung), Chowk, Khalapur, Kusgaon, and Talegaon. It has two carriageways, each with three lanes, and pedestrians and slow vehicles are not allowed. Tolls are collected for each direction—Khalapur for Mumbai-bound traffic and Talegaon for Pune-bound traffic. The expressway is built, owned, and maintained by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC).

Construction started in the late 1990s and the full route opened in April 2002. A “missing link” bypass to ease the ghat section began in 2019 and is expected to finish around 2026, with plans to widen the road from six to eight lanes. The Expressway has seen safety upgrades over the years, including speed limit changes and various mitigation efforts after landslides. In 2020, a bridge bottleneck was removed to improve traffic flow, and modern traffic management measures such as gantries and AI-based cameras were introduced in subsequent years.

Key facts
- Length: 94.5 km; starts at Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai and ends at Kiwale, Pune
- Lanes: 6 (3 per direction); planned expansion to 8
- Route features: 5 interchanges; tunnels through the Sahyadris
- Ownership: MSRDC; tolls collected at Khalapur (Mumbai direction) and Talegaon (Pune direction)
- Purpose: Connect Mumbai and Pune, reduce travel time to about 2 hours
- Notable history: opened 2002; bypass project underway since 2019 with expected completion around 2026
- Safety: ongoing improvements, including traffic management and enforcement measures