Easing the journey to and from the Manohar International Airport in Goa’s Mopa, a new access-controlled link road, termed as national highway 166S, is ready. The road will be inaugurated by Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday evening.
The almost seven kilometre-road, an elevated corridor, called the link road to the airport or the Mopa link road, will provide faster connectivity to and from Mumbai-Kanyakumari National Highway 66, also connecting Goa.
National Highway 66 starts in Panvel near Mumbai and ends at Cape Comorin in Kanyakumari. It passes through Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The link road will ease the journey for the people travelling between the international airport in Goa and any of these states.
Currently, the distance between the airport and Dhargal is about 12-15 km, depending upon the route taken, and takes around 20-30 minutes during traffic-free hours. However, this could go up during peak traffic hours as the roads earlier were just two-laned and passed through villages.
The new access-controlled road is six laned and has an elevated viaduct. It is built at a cost of almost Rs 1,200 crore. As per officials, the travel time to the airport will drop by about 15-20 minutes and the commuters can reach the Mumbai-Goa-Kanyakumari highway in just five minutes from the airport.
As per the Ministry, the road will not just ensure faster and hassle-free connectivity to Mopa airport but will also boost the multi-modal connectivity and reduce logistics cost.
In a post on X (previously Twitter), late on Wednesday, the Chief Minister announced the inauguration of the road.
“The new Mopa Link Road, connecting NH 66 to the airport will enhance regional infrastructure and provide a seamless travel experience for both tourists and locals,” he said.
Bharat’s most sought after tourist destination, Goa’s new pride, the Manohar International Airport at Mopa, was established with the support of the Double Engine Sarkar under Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji.The new Mopa Link Road is set to be dedicated to the Nation by Hon’ble… pic.twitter.com/lHnIgSyazB
— Dr. Pramod Sawant (@DrPramodPSawant) July 10, 2024
The road is built under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode and the work was awarded in December 2021, a year before the airport started operations.
Even before the airport started operations, in September 2020, the Union government declared the road connecting Mopa Airport to NH 66 as National Highway, NH 166S.
In December 2023, while sharing the updates on the road, the Chief Minister had said that the bridge pillar of the project is the highest in India.
The link road has been designed keeping in mind the high-speed vehicular traffic. Access controlled roads, as the name suggests, have regulated traffic flow. All sides of these roads are barricaded to prevent entry of cattle, pedestrians or any slow moving vehicles, ensuring uninterrupted and safe travel.
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