US-inspired highway is Gadkari's gift to Maharashtra

NEW DELHI: The Centre will develop the nearly 400 km coastal highway between Alibaug in Mumbai and Maharashtra-Goa border as a national highway, which road transport minister Nitin Gadkari has proposed as "sagari marg".
The minister, who recently returned from the US, claimed this stretch pa-ssing close to the sea will be developed as a stretch with tourist spots on the lines of the 'coastal drive' from San Fran-cisco to Los Angeles.
Terming it as a birthday gift to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Gadkari asked the state public works department minister to send the proposal for converting this stretch passing through Rantagiri as a national highway. This coastal stretch runs close to Dighi port, Dabhol, Guhaghar, Jaigad port, Ratnigiri, Vijaydurg Fort, Deogad, Malwan, Vengurla and Arunda.
"This stretch will be developed as a two-lane road with paved shoulder for comfortable drive. We may modify the align-ment a little bit to take the road closer to the sea," said a high-way ministry official. This would require about Rs 2,500 crore investment, which will include construction of some more bridges. Sources said that 19 bridges were built on this stretch when Gadkari was the state PWD minister.
Gadkari's proposal for "sagari marg" came after he took a nearly 12-hour drive from San Francisco and Los Angeles, which is about 800 kms. This stretch has winding hilly terrain, thick forests and some desert patches along the west coast overseeing the Pacific Ocean. The minister had said that he was impressed by the tunnelling technology and the lovely scenic spots along the curves on the highways that have been converted into centres of tourist attraction.