The 55km Dhaka-Bhanga Expressway is likely to open for vehicular movement in October this year, before the stipulated timeframe, as the construction work of this project is going on at full throttle.
This is going to be the country’s first ever expressway, which will be a part of the Asian Highway Corridor-1.
The expressway which is being constructed on both sides of the Padma Bridge is 35 kilometre long on one side extending from the capital’s Jatrabari to Mawa and 20 kilometres long on the other side extending from Madaripur to Bhanga of Faridpur.
According to a ministry source, Bhanga is going to be one of the important transportation hubs in the south-western region after completion of the Padma Bridge, and it will play a major role in connecting sub-regional transportation with India and other neighbouring countries of Bangladesh through Benapole.
During a visit to the construction area, this correspondent found workers and engineers were busy in their works to complete the expressway’s construction as early as possible.
Experts said once the construction of Padma Bridge is complete, it will reduce vehicular pressure on the route. It will also cut travel time between Dhaka and Faridpur by several hours.
A total of 116 infrastructures are being set up along the expressway. Among them, there are 31 small and big bridges, six flyovers, four railway overpasses, 15 underpasses and three interchange facilities. To facilitate local transport there will also be two separate five-meter lanes on both sides of the expressway.
In order to complete the work faster, the authority has divided the whole project into different segments of eight kilometres each and appointed different contractors for completing the project faster. From that perspective, the government is hopeful of completing the project before the stipulated time.
Notably, the expressway is being implemented in two phases by Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and Special Works Organisation (SWO) of Bangladesh Army, under the supervision of Road Transport and Highways Division, at the cost of Tk6,252 crore. The construction cost of each kilometre of the highway is Tk 100.12 crore.