Faulty design blamed for Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover congestion

The Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover in the capital was built with a faulty design, which had significantly reduced its effectiveness in easing traffic congestion, said experts and officials at a meeting of the Planning Commission.

Design limitations, infrastructural constraints, and management shortcomings prevent the flyover from delivering the expected benefits, while commuters are forced to remain stuck in traffic for long hours every day, the meeting minutes revealed.

Representatives of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), and Orion Group, as well as officials of the Planning Commission and independent experts, attended the meeting.

Orion Group implemented the project under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.

The meeting was chaired by Kabir Ahmed, chief of the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission.

The meeting minutes issued on March 3 were sent to the Local Government Division and other relevant agencies.

Officials say the flyover was constructed in 2013 to ease traffic congestion around the Sayedabad bus terminal and improve connectivity between Dhaka and the southern and south-eastern regions of the country.

It was expected that vehicles arriving through the Kanchpur Bridge would be able to move quickly via Jatrabari to Gulistan, reducing congestion in the Sayedabad area.

However, the flyover itself has now become a major source of traffic congestion, according to the report.

Vehicles heading towards the capital remain stuck on the flyover for an average of one to one and a half hours almost every day, causing significant passenger suffering along with fuel wastage and loss of working hours.

Saiful Islam, executive engineer of Dhaka South City Corporation, says the flyover was originally built to reduce traffic pressure on the road corridor connecting Kanchpur Bridge, Jatrabari, and Gulistan.

He says the flyover is around 11.8 kilometres long and includes seven outgoing and five incoming ramps.

Two toll plazas have been installed at Kutubkhali (Shanir Akhra), while one each has been set up at Postogola, Demra, Sayedabad, Gulistan, and Golapbagh, he adds.

Professor Dr Md Shamsul Hoque of the Department of Civil Engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology says several key issues were not considered during the design phase.

"Vehicles from the N1, N2, and N8 national highways converge at the Jatrabari incoming point before entering the flyover. But this factor was not taken into account during the design stage, leading to regular congestion," he explains.

He notes that the original plan was to allow vehicles to use both the flyover and the surface road to ease traffic pressure.

"However, infrastructural barriers were created during construction that effectively forced vehicles to use the flyover instead of the road beneath it. From an engineering perspective, this is highly unacceptable," he says.

Highlighting further design flaws, he says the pier-head height was kept low, the width of lanes on the surface road was reduced, and obstacles were created at the discharge points where vehicles exit the flyover.

"As a result, the facility has become inefficient," he adds.

As a possible remedy, he suggests narrowing the road median beneath the flyover to facilitate smoother traffic movement.

In his concluding remarks, Kabir Ahmed said vehicles from N1, N2, and N8 enter Dhaka through the corridor.

"In the absence of alternative routes, most vehicles are compelled to use the flyover. Flyovers are normally built to reduce congestion on surface roads. But in this case, the design has made it difficult for heavy vehicles to move along the road beneath," he says.

The meeting also noted that the road under the flyover from Jatrabari to Gulistan remained poorly maintained for a long time and was affected by encroachments.

Vehicles coming via Signboard and Shanir Akhra from Chattogram and Sylhet also face difficulties due to insufficient road width beneath the flyover.

Manual toll collection was identified as another key factor behind congestion.

Currently, tolls are collected manually from vehicles entering Dhaka, which causes delays and long queues.

To address the issue, the meeting suggested examining the feasibility of setting up separate toll plazas near Shanir Akhra for vehicles coming from Chattogram and Sylhet and near Postogola for vehicles arriving from the southern region.

Md Naif Uddin Khan, head of operations of the project implementing firm Orion Group, says efforts are being made to maintain traffic flow through coordination with the city corporation and the traffic division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

"We are trying to ensure smoother traffic movement by deploying additional manpower," he says.

Additional Commissioner (Administration) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Md Sarwar says coordinated action by all relevant agencies is needed. "Despite sincere efforts by the police, it is often difficult to keep the flyover congestion-free," he says.

According to a presentation by the traffic division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), several factors contribute to congestion around the flyover, including infrastructural limitations in the Gulistan area, imbalance between pavement and road space, delays in toll collection, illegal parking, street vendors, and bottlenecks at key intersections.

The meeting recommended reducing the width of the pavement on the southern side of the Gulistan Central Jame Mosque to expand the roadway, increasing the number of toll collectors, removing illegal encroachments, and making infrastructural adjustments at major intersections.

The report also suggested Dhaka South City Corporation repair the road beneath the flyover and remove encroachments to ensure smooth traffic movement from Shanir Akhra through Jatrabari and Sayedabad to Gulistan.

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