Bangabandhu Tunnel Utilisation: Narrow highway may serve as a bottleneck
The narrow Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway may pose an obstacle to reaping the benefits of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli, which will be opened on October 28 this year.
The overall progress of the tunnel's construction work is almost 98 percent. The approach road, the cross bridge related to the toll plaza and the two tubes for easy vehicular movement have all been completed, said sources at the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the project's implementing agency.
The government has already announced the toll rate of the tunnel.
This is the first tunnel in Bangladesh and the first-ever under-river tunnel for road communication in South Asia. It will connect Chattogram with Cox's Bazar, Teknaf, and Matarbari through an alternative route, which will also reduce the distance between Chattogram and Cox's Bazar by 40 kilometres, said Bridges Division officials.
But communication experts think the two-lane Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway, which is merely 18 feet wide, cannot take the increased pressure of traffic flow when the tunnel opens.
They think vehicles that will use this tunnel to arrive in Cox's Bazar and Bandarban are very likely to increase the traffic flow on the highway. When the deep sea port at Matarbari in Cox's Bazar, the power plant in Moheshkhali and the economic zone in Mirsarai will start operation, the highway will face further traffic flows.
"If the highway is not of the same quality as the access provided by the tunnel, productivity of journey will be very negligible. Quality of service of the highway is worse than the local roads in some places. Therefore, the situation will be the same even after widening the road," Buet's transportation engineering expert Prof Shamsul Haque told The Daily Star yesterday.
However, Roads and Highways Department officials of Chattogram have said a project has been underway to widen the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway to tackle the increased traffic flow after opening the tunnel. The length of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway is 148 kilometres. The ongoing RHD project is increasing the width of the highway from 18 to 36 feet.
Asked about how much time this project requires, RHD officials have said the ongoing project to turn the highway four-lane will be finished by 2026. They have also said the traffic flow is unlikely to rise on the highway till 2026 as the mega projects in Cox's Bazar will not be completed before that time.
Referring to an internal study, RHD officials have informed that the four-lane highway is enough to tackle the heavy traffic till 2040. Out of 148 km, only 16 km of the highway -- 8km from the Chattogram part and 8 km from the Cox's Bazar part -- have already been made four-lane.
Suvash Barua, road communication expert and vice president of Planned Chattogram Forum, said there would be a traffic mess if all the related issues remained unaddressed, adding that an integrated communication system should be put in place first.
"The 36-feet wide highway will not contribute much if there is no service lane on the highway for local inhabitants. When it is widened to four-lane, three-wheelers, rickshaws, easy bikes and other local transports will use the same highway. If there is no service lane, it is very likely there will be a mess."
Police and locals have echoed Barua when they say local vehicles will increase jam and accidents on the highway. They say local markets, unruly driving and haphazard parking on the road also cause traffic congestion.
According to RHD data, nearly 30 thousand vehicles ply the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway every day.
A survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority in 2013 states more than 17,000 vehicles can use the Bangabandhu tunnel per day. An average of more than 28,305 vehicles will travel through the tunnel every day by 2025, which will increase to an average of 37,946 by 2030.
Highway police also fear huge tailbacks on the highway after the inauguration of the tunnel.
Shehangshu Bikash Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Patiya Highway Police Station told The Daily Star, "Road accidents occur often on this road as three-wheelers, CNGs, buses, trucks, and other heavy vehicles ply the road on a regular basis."
Vehicles, coming from across the country towards Cox's Bazar and Bandarban, will enter the tunnel through Patenga, using the Outer Ring Road in the port city. Getting past the tunnel, the vehicles will first take the six-lane approach road and then the six-lane Chaturi-Chaumuhani road, which leads to the six-lane Patiya-Anwara-Banshkhari (PAB).
After that, the vehicles will reach the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar highway through the Shikolbaha Y Junction in Karnaphuli Upazila.
Local sources say the two-lane highway is being connected with the six-lane PAB via a newly constructed intersection at the Y Junction.
A project proposal to upgrade the highway into six-lane was sent to the ministry of road transport and bridges last year. In the proposal, RHD asked for Tk 5,800 crore to implement the project, say RHD sources, adding that the proposal is now awaiting a green signal.
"It's not true that there will be huge traffic congestion on the highway after opening the tunnel. We are now widening it to 36 feet from Patiya to Keranirkhat, which is enough to tackle the situation."
Jointly funded by Bangladesh and China, the tunnel is 3.40 km long and the approach road is 5.35 km.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of the first tunnel tube on February 24, 2019.
The Bangabandhu Tunnel is being built at a cost of Tk 10,374 crore.