MUMBAI, Jan. 20 -- Nearly 24 years after the Mumbai-Pune Expressway opened to the public, travel between the two cities is set to become faster with the completion of the long-delayed missing link project, now scheduled to open on April 1, 2026. Once operational, the project is expected to cut travel time by up to 25 minutes and reduce the expressway length by nearly 6 km. The Rs.6,695.37-crore project, being executed by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), involves a combination of tunnels and cable-stayed bridges between Khalapur and Lonavala, one of the most congested stretches of the 95-km expressway. According to MSRDC officials, the two ends of the cable-stayed bridge, a key component of the project, are expected to be connected next month, marking a major construction milestone. However, the deadline has been pushed to April from January due to engineering challenges and weather conditions. "The project is now targeted for completion by April 1, 2026. The revised timeline accounts for the complexity of the terrain and difficult working conditions," an MSRDC official said. The project has seen multiple deadline revisions with the initial deadline being March 2024. The project aims to ease mounting traffic pressure between Khalapur and Lonavala and reduce congestion near the hill stations of Khandala and Lonavala, a stretch that often becomes a bottleneck. As part of the project, the existing expressway has been widened from six to eight lanes over a 5.86-km stretch between the Khalapur toll plaza and the Khopoli exit. In addition, a new 13.3-km eight-lane alignment is being constructed between Khopoli exit and Kusgaon. The new alignment includes two tunnels measuring 1.68 km and 8.87 km, and two bridges spanning 900 metres and 650 metres. Once completed, the distance between Khopoli and Sinhagad Institute will reduce from the current 19 km to 13.3 km. The missing link project is around 94% complete....