The Mumbai Trans Harbour Link, India's longest bridge, is expected to open to the public by the end of this year. This week, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadanvis will flag off a 'bus' to travel a short distance on the Mumbai Trans Harbour link, marking a key milestone. To commemorate the completion of the deck slab installation, Shinde and Fadanvis will wave the green flag to a bus carrying MMRDA officials and engineers, which will take a symbolic short drive on the new route, according to an official.

Following the symbolic ceremony, the remaining stages will be completed over the next four to five months, including the installation of crash barriers, asphalting the deck, erecting view-cutters, establishing the open toll collection centers, security and surveillance system, markers and signages, waterproofing the engineering structure, lights and reflectors, and so on.

Key facts:

1. The total length of is about 21.8 km, sea length about 16.5 km and land length about 5.5 km
2. When opened, the bidge will help decongestion of the island city by improving connectivity between Island city and Main land (Navi Mumbai).
3. Mumbai Trans Harbour Link will help speed up the traffic between Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and also to facilitate the traffic from Mumbai to Pune and Goa.
4. The 30.1 meter wide, six-lane bridge is being built at a cost of over Rs 178 billion.
5. The link has interchanges at Sewri in Mumbai and at Shivaji Nagar, at SH-54 and at Chirle on NH-348 on Navi Mumbai Side.
6. Proposed vehicle speed: 100 km/hour

The project is being implemented by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), a Maharashtra government agency that is primarily funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

When completed, it will be India's longest sea bridge, accommodating 70,000 vehicles per day.

Once open to traffic, it will take 15 to 20 minutes to get from Sewri in central Mumbai to Chirle in Navi Mumbai. The Open Tolling System eliminates the need for vehicles to stop on the bridge to pay tolls.

See also:
MTHL: The bridge that will last a century
MTHL to connect Mumbai-Pune Expressway through elevated corridor