Another part opens

Another part of the much-awaited Moghbazar-Mouchak Flyover was opened to traffic yesterday as part of efforts to ease traffic congestions on Eskaton-Mouchak road further.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain inaugurated it around 11:00am.

Vehicles on the one-km stretch of the flyover -- near the Janakantha building to near Arong (Mouchak) -- started moving soon after its inauguration.

“We hope we'll be able to open the rest part of the flyover to traffic by June-July next year,” Mosharraf said.

Once completed, the construction of the flyover, it will help ease traffic congestion in the city, the minister said.

He, however, said, “I don't think one area will be free from traffic jams after constructing a flyover in it. Rather, it may contribute to tailbacks in some other areas. It'll be resolved after the implementation of all the projects under our master plan.”

On March 30 last, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the first part, also stretching two-km from Satrasta intersection up to Shaheed Captain Mansur Ali Avenue (Moghbazar), of the 8.7-km Mouchak-Moghbazar Flyover.

Besides, the work on the third and last part of the flyover covering Mouchak, Rajarbagh and Shantinagar is scheduled to end by June next.

In January last, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved revision of the Moghbazar-Mouchak Flyover Project with an extension of 18 months till June 2017 and increased cost of Tk 446.2 crore, raising the overall project cost to Tk 1,218.9 crore.

The project work, which was scheduled to be completed within December 2015, started in 2013 instead of the original schedule of 2011.