The government has undertaken an initiative to build three underpasses and a U-loop at Cumilla on the Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway to provide a sustainable, secure and cost-effective communication system.
To reduce the risk of accidents, the government is going to undertake a special project titled “Construction of Three Underpasses and Paduar Bazar Intersection U-loop on Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway” involving Tk 568.93 crore.
The Planning Commission has already completed the processing of the project, an official of the Planning Commission said.
It is expected to be presented at the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), he added.
If approved, the project will be implemented by the Department of Roads and Highways between this year and June 2024, he mentioned.
In this regard, Planning Commission member of the Physical Infrastructure Division Mamun-Al-Rashid said under this initiative, a U-loop along with an underpass will be constructed at the intersection of three roads in Paduar Bazar, 93rd km of the Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway.
On the other hand, another two underpasses will be constructed at the entrance of Cumilla Sadar Dakshin Upazila and Cumilla University respectively.
If the project is implemented, it will help to reduce accidents and improve the overall socio-economic condition, including the improvement of integrated road communication system, he mentioned.
The Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway is considered as one of the communication corridors connecting the capital Dhaka with the commercial capital Chattogram, an official of the Ministry of Road Transport said.
It has a plan to connect India with the northeastern states through this corridor in the future. As the road is the backbone of regional national and international highways, it is essential to have adequate capacity and mobility to meet its current and future traffic needs.
The Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway and the Comilla-Chandpur Regional Highway have merged at Paduar Bazar to form a four-lane junction.
At this junction, a large number of vehicles going to Dhaka-Chandpur, Chattogram-Comilla, Comilla-Chandpur and Chandpur-Chattogram have to make a U-turn within less than 500 meters.
As a result, severe traffic jams occur at this place most of the time. In it, uninterrupted communication is severely disrupted and terrible accidents often occur.
Under the proposed project, a U-loop and an underpass will be constructed on Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway and Cumilla-Chandpur Regional Highway.
Besides, another two underpasses will be constructed on Cumilla Sadar South Upazila Gate and Cumilla University Beltali Gate adjacent to the Dhaka-Chattogram National Highway.
The main activities of the project include construction of 2,142.70 meters of U-loop, acquisition of three underpasses, acquisition of 1.53 hectares of land and purchase of a grader, a double cabin pickup and a truck.
Apart from this, other work including landscaping, utility shifting and tree planting will also be done under the project.