The estimated cost of construction of the 13-km stretch of the expressway from Gulistan to Kamal Ataturk Avenue at Banani is around Tk 1,218 crore. In the second phase, the rest seven km will be built at a cost of about Tk 705.53 crore, sources said.

The first-phase part of the expressway will have entry points at GolapShah Mazar, New Market, Sonargaon crossing, Rangs crossing and Kamal Ataturk Avenue

Originally, the expressway was supposed to begin from Jatrabari crossing. Later Jatrabari-Gulistan portion was dropped as Dhaka City Corporation decided to build a 3.5-km fly over at a cost of Tk 706 crore.

The expressway project will be implemented mainly with Thai financial and technical assistance.

The Ministry of Communications has decided to start implementing the project and sent the project proposal to the Planning Commission for final approval. The ministry expects to start the project early next year, sources said.

At least 30,000 vehicles will pass through the expressway an hour greatly reducing the number of vehicles on the roads, according to the project proposal.

The sources claimed that the elevated expressway will provide a 'permanent solution' to the huge traffic congestion in the capital city of 360 square km with around 12 million people and only 220 km roads. Vehicles carrying goods will also easily pass through the capital without affecting normal traffic, they said.

The Exim Bank of Thailand agreed to provide 60 per cent funds for the project as soft loan and the Thai government 20 per cent as technical support.

The Bangladesh government will provide the rest, according to the project proposal.

A three-member technical team from Thailand is likely to come to Dhaka soon for discussion on the project.

Two task forces formed in Bangladesh and Thailand to implement the project already held several meetings.

The concept of the elevated expressway first came up at talks during the Thai prime minister's visit to Bangladesh in 2002. An Italian-Thai development company then conducted a pre-feasibility study and submitted its report on December 10 of the same year.

Officials at the Roads and Highways Department said the elevated expressway is the cheapest solution to the existing traffic congestion.

The government has not abandoned the idea of an underground railway network in the capital, which is very costly. Hardly any investor came up for investment on such a huge project, they mentioned.