C T Online Desk: Travel time to reduce to 15 min from 2 hours; motorcycles will not be allowed.
The long-anticipated “Mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury CDA Elevated Expressway,” aimed at expediting travel to and from Shah Amanat International Airport and Chattogram Port, is poised to open to traffic by the end of this month despite some ramps remaining unfinished.
This project is expected to reduce travel time from the city centre to Shah Amanat International Airport to a mere 15 minutes, a significant improvement from the current around two hours.
However, it will take over one more year to reap full benefits from the mega project after the completion of the construction of all 15 ramps designed to alleviate traffic congestion at different intersections of the city.
According to the project officials, carpeting and other related work of the first-ever 15.2-kilometre expressway from the city’s Lalkhan Bazar to the airport have already been completed. Now, work on installing some lights and CCTV cameras are going on.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the mega project through video conferencing on 14 November last year.
Contacted, Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) Chief Engineer Kazi Hasan Bin Shams told the Daily Sun that physical work of the elevated expressway has been completed and the lights and CCTV cameras are currently being placed.
“We set up a temporary toll plaza at the Patenga end since vehicles will now ply only to and from the Patenga to Tigerpass areas through the expressway,” he added.
As the expressway has been connected with the Akhtaruzzaman Flyover, vehicles will be able to get on it from Patenga, Bahoddarhat and Sholoshahar Gate-2, and down at Patenga, Tigerpass and the Lalkhan Bazar, said the chief engineer.
“Construction work of two of the 15 proposed ramps have been completed while work of 10 others at different places including Nimtala and GEC are going on,” Shams said expecting to get work of all ramps completed by June next year, the deadline set for the project.
“The expressway is now ready for the traffic movement and we are expecting to open it to traffic by the end of this month,” the chief engineer anticipated.
He also said that they will not allow motorbikes on the expressway. Whether or not CNG-run auto-rickshaws can access it is still under consideration.
The maximum toll for private vehicles will be Tk100, Shams noted.
The Elevated Expressway project, initiated by the CDA, aimed at developing smooth communication between the Chattogram city and south Chattogram districts and upazilas, reducing distance and expense for commuters in the city and easing movement to and from the Chattogram Port and Chattogram Shah Amanat International Airport.
The “Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel” developed beneath the River Karnaphuli is also expected to synergise with the expressway, maximising its benefit for the frequenters.
The stakeholders anticipated that the long-awaited project would boost connectivity further, offering a better trade environment and drawing more foreign and domestic investments in Chattogram, considered the commercial capital of the country.
They believe that by opening the expressway through the city centre, the road network will get diversified allowing multilateral transportation options.
The CDA is implementing the elevated expressway at Tk4,298 crore. Though the initial cost of the project was Tk3,250 crore, it was enhanced following changes in design at different points later.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) greenlit the project, funded by the government, in July 2017.
The 15.2-km elevated expressway will be a four-lane one with a width of 16.5 metres.
The ramps will facilitate entry and exit at different intersections, including GEC, Agrabad, Barik Building, Nimtala Bishwa Road, Customs and CEPZ.
CDA, earlier, constructed two flyovers connecting the Bahoddarhat and Lalkhan Bazar areas in the city. After the opening of the expressway, the two ends of the city will be connected through a flyover and elevated expressway.
On the other hand, the ECNEC approved a Tk650 crore project to develop an international standard intersection at the mouth of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, the elevated expressway and Outer Ring Road at the Patenga end on 6 June last year.
The CDA has taken up the project to ease traffic movement at the Patenga point, said sources concerned.
