The Elevated expressway, named after the mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, has been constructed to to ease the traffic congestion in the port city.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the expressway through a video conference on November 14 last year.
Chattogram's first elevated expressway will be opened for traffic soon. About 16 km long expressway is now visible. Among the 4 lanes of the road, various types of finishing work including the installation of electric poles are going on in the last stage. Chattogram Development Authority has been working on the construction of 15 ramps for the elevated expressway. Four of these ramps are in Agrabad. There will be one on Agrabad Ethnological Museum Road, one on Chamber Road and two on Agrabad Access Road, two ramps in Tigerpass, Nimtala, CEPZ and KEPZ areas.
Besides, there is one ramp each at GEC Mor, Fakirhat and Cement Crossing areas. Construction of 15 ramps will take about one year. It will take only 20 minutes to go from Lalkhanbazar in the metropolis to Shah Amanat International Airport in Patenga.
CDA Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan Bin Shams said preparations are underway to open the elevated expressway for traffic. However, it will be opened for traffic this month after the installation of the electric lights. Along with the installation of lights, CCTV cameras will also be installed. Of these, 15 ramps are yet to be completed. The ramps which have been completed will be opened. However, the duration of the project will be extended and will end next year. By the end of next year, the city dwellers will get the benefit of the full-fledged elevated expressway.
He said, the expressway has 14 toll booths for collecting toll. The contractors will be appointed to collect this toll through tender. There will be four toll booths at the Patenga end. The tender has not been called yet.'
According to CDA sources, while traveling on the elevated expressway, cars will have to pay a toll of Tk 100, jeep Tk 100, microbus Tk 100, minibus Tk 200, bus Tk 300, and trucks (four wheelers) Tk 200. However, motorcycles, trucks (6 wheels) and covered vans will not be allowed to run on this road.
The elevated expressway will have a maximum speed of 60 kmph. For this, CC cameras and speed cameras will also be installed to control the vehicles which will be controlled by city police.
According to CDA sources, to ease the traffic congestion in the city, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved the Chattogram Elevated Expressway project, spanning from Lalkhan Bazar to Patenga, on 11 July 2017.
First, the cost of the project was estimated at Tk3,250.83 crore. The project was supposed to be 100% completed within three years from July 2017 to June 2020 but it was not. In the second phase, the time was extended till June 2022. However, before the expiry of the period, it is proposed to extend the period. In the third phase, the time has increased till June 2023.
At the same time, the construction cost of the project was increased to Tk4,369.10 crore. The CDA is jointly implementing the project with a Chinese company, Max-Ranken Joint Venture.
