At present, there are about 22,000 kilometers (kms) roads in the country, of which 4,000 kms are highways. These highways will be upgraded to four and six lanes in phases.
“A total of 56-km flyover will be constructed across the country. Under this, 13-km four-lane connecting Dhaka-Narayanganj flyover will be constructed,” said the secretary of the Department of Road Transport and Highways Md Nazrul Islam.
He was speaking at a contract signing ceremony between the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges and a Chinese construction company to upgrade the Hatirjheel-Amulia-Demra road into an expressway on the basis of a public-private partnership (PPP) held at Hotel Intercontinental in the capital on Sunday.
Md Nazrul Islam said, “All highways will have four and six lanes in phases. Work has already been started to upgrade the existing four lanes to six lanes."
Chief Engineer of the Department of Roads and Highways Md Abdus Sabur and Fang Ming of the Chinese consortium signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organisations. Chief Engineer of the Department of Roads and Highways Md Abdus Sabur presided over the programme.
According to the Department of Roads and Highways, the roads and highways from Hatirjheel to Demra are 16.5km long. After the launch of the expressway, it will be 13 kilometers. It will take just 10 minutes to travel from one end of the highway to the other.
Hatirjheel-Rampura-Amulia-Demra road will be like the first expressway of the country, Mawa-Bhanga road. It will take about four years to build the expressway once the work starts.
A consortium of China Communications Company Limited and China Road and Bridge Corporation will provide Tk 2,094 crore to the project. The Bangladesh government will provide Tk 1,209 crore.
After the signing of the agreement, the Chinese consortium will start work at the field level. The project authorities will have to acquire the land and make it ready to use, and raise funds to the consortium within nine months.
The existing Hatirjheel-Rampura-Banasree-Amulia-Demra road expressway was planned five years ago to reduce traffic congestion and provide an alternative entrance to the capital city. According to sources, the design of the expressway is being finalised.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges Raushan Ara Mannan, Member of Parliament Enamul Haque was present as a special guest among others.
