City commuters avail another rapid-ride route

Dhaka's outmoded transport system, riddled with traffic congestion, wears another speck of new looks with the opening of Bangladesh's maiden half-built elevated expressway today.

Commuters in the capital city will enjoy rapid ride on high-speed vehicles on an 11.5-kilometre roadway on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) that is being inaugurated today (Saturday) amid festivity.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would inaugurate the DEE, stretching from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Farmgate in the first phase, by unveiling a plaque and then undertaking a ceremonious drive-past.

The prime minister would take the ride from Kawla entrance near HSIA at 3pm after a civic rally there and get down at Farmgate end to attend the inaugural function as chief guest.

The country's first road-transport infrastructure project under public-public partnership (PPP) will open to city commuters tomorrow (Sunday), paving the way for them to drive 11.5 kilometres in around 11 minutes.

The inaugural function, to be held on the old trade-fair field premises in Sher-e-Banglanagar at 4pm, will also be attended by cabinet members, civil-society members, political leaders and government officials, among others.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan will be present.

Officials say all preparations have been completed to operate the first, toll-based, elevated expressway under private-company management. Toll plazas at six entry ramps will have four to six lanes to get the traffic from both sides of the city.

They said though 16 ramps will touch the ground to exit from this part of the DEE but 13 will be opened Sunday. The rest 3 will be opened in a month

The getup ramps are at Kawla, Kuril, Banani, and Tejgaon. Kawla and Tejgaon will have entrance for two sides. Besides, airport, Kuril, Banani, Mohakhlai and Farmgate will have exit ramps to head towards different sides.

Speed limit of the expressway has been kept at 60 kms per hour, restricting movement of slow-moving vehicles like auto- rickshaws and motorcycles.

Managing Director of Italian-Thai Development Public Company (ITD) Bhaskon Khannabha told the FE that the expressway is designed with 80-km-per-hour speed limit for which scope of two- and three-wheelers to use it is always restricted.

He said the four-lane carriageway will also have service lane on both sides for emergency services only.

"No parking, no picture taking on the expressway is allowed," says the partner company boss, citing the experience gained after the inauguration of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.

Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) has been executing the first Dhaka Elevated Expressway since the present government took it as a priority project after the Padma Bridge in 2009. The concessionaire agreement with the private partner, ITD, was signed on January 19, 2011 with a target to complete the works by 2013. However, the first PPP project faced first blow for cutting ramps at Mohakhali and Tejgaon, leaving the two partners to sign a revised deal in December 2013.

But problems in project implementation continued up till 2020 when the ITD was able to manage US $861 million from two Chinese banks - by selling share to two Chinese companies.

The ITD with its 51-percent share, China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group with 34 per cent and Sinohydro Corporation Limited with 15-percent share could create the project momentum after the project's 25-year concessional period commenced on January 01, 2020.

Transport expert Prof Mohammad Shamsul Hoque says the beauty of the DEE is that its ramps did not end up on the existing road through Moghbazar, Shantinagar and Hanif flyover as ending up ramps on existing roads is a major cause for traffic jam in the city.

"Besides, operation and maintenance of the expressway by private companies will also ensure standard of the road as it is the company's own responsibility for the sake of getting increased volume of traffic during its concessional period."

A teacher of Civil Engineering at BUET, Dr Shamsul Hoque, however, airs concern over partial opening of the DEE, apprehending creation of congestion at the exit points.

"The DEE's functionality to ease traffic jam is dependent on total operation of the entire 46km corridor," says the transport expert, underlining the need for digitisation of toll collection for smooth functioning.

Bridges Secretary M Monjur Hossain disagreed on the point of new traffic jam. "As the elevated expressway will get the traffic of existing road, free space automatically will be created on that road," he says.

Chief executive officer of the PPP Authority Dr Mohammad Mushfiqur Rahman terms it a remarkable opening in the city journey and says the facility will save 160,000 travel hours every year.

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