PM opens today 8-lane part of highway to Ctg

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate the country's first eight-lane highway corridor and construction of the first four-lane expressway today.

Through video conferencing, the PM will open these projects at 10:30am from the Gono Bhaban.

The Road Transport and Highways Division has already completed construction of the 7.2 kilometres stretch of the eight-lane highway termed "enter and exit corridor". The corridor has been built between the Mayor Hanif Flyover and Shimrail intersection on the Jatrabari-Kanchpur national highway near the capital.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said this eight-lane highway would help reduce traffic congestion when vehicles enter and exit the capital, using the Jatrabari-Kanchpur highway.

He said a huge number of vehicles from two major cities -- Chittagong and Sylhet -- use this highway and traffic congestion on this highway will reduce after the inauguration of the eight-lane portion. At the same time, this road will contribute to the socioeconomic development of the area, added the minister.

4-LANE PADMA LINK ROAD

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Army will construct the country's first four-lane expressway, connecting the Mayor Hanif Flyover in Dhaka with Bhanga of Faridpur, over the Padma bridge.   

It would cost Tk 6,252 crore to build the 55-kilometre-long expressway while the cost of widening of one kilometre of the highway to four lanes would be around Tk 114 crore. 

"Construction of the highway will be completed before the inauguration of the Padma bridge," Quader told reporters while visiting Tegharia area on the Dhaka-Mawa highway. He was visiting the place to observe the preparation of the construction work by Bangladesh Army. 

There would be 5.5-metre-wide separate service lanes along both sides of the expressway for slow-moving vehicles and a five-meter-wide median for constructing metro-rail in the future. Six flyovers, four railway overpasses, 15 underpasses and three interchanges would be part of the highway project.

This would be the country's first such expressway without any traffic crossover, facilitating uninterrupted vehicular movement.

Quader said the army was awarded the construction work for its capacity of implementing the project swiftly, ensuring high quality.