Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, has approved a ten-crore project to build an access-controlled expressway between Aurangabad and Pune. It aims to reduce travel time to 1.15 hours, as opposed to the current four to five hours.
He also dedicated 86 km of roads on National Highway No. 52 worth 3,216 crore and laid the foundation stone for four other road projects worth 2,253 crore. Due to the lack of turns on the highway, the vehicles could reach speeds of up to 140 km/h. This new alignment will run between Paithan and Ahmednagar, with a double-decker bridge being built on Jalna Road in Aurangabad to alleviate traffic congestion.