4-lane Dhaka-Ctg highway ready for use
pm to inaugurate highway today
SHAMSUDDIN ILLIUS, Ctg
Publication Date: 02 July 2016
Media: The Independent
Media: The Independent
Original Link: 4-lane Dhaka-Ctg highway ready for use
E-paper Link: 4-lane Dhaka-Ctg highway ready for use
The much-awaited four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway is ready for use. It is scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today. Hasina is also scheduled to open the Joydebpur-Mymensingh highway the same day. The four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway is expected to boost trade and tourism by connecting the capital with the port city. Business leaders say the highway will work as the country’s economic lifeline by shortening travel time and easing traffic movement.
Sources in the highway police said 30,000 to 35,000 vehicles run on the Dhaka-Chittagong route everyday. Expansion work of the much-hyped 190.48-km-long highway to turn it into dual carriageways has been finished, said the roads and highway department (RHD). All the 23 bridges and 242 culverts on the highway stretch have been reworked, while 80 per cent of the construction work for three railways overpasses at Chittagong Fuzdarhat, Feni and Comilla has been completed.
Altaf Hossain Khan, director of the four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway project, told The Independent, “We’ve finished the work. Now, the highway is ready to be opened. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the highway on July 2.” “Our project completion time was till December 2016. But we’ve completed the work long before that and the four-lane highway is going to be opened for the smooth journey of home-bound people during the upcoming Eid-ul-fir,” he said.
“We’ve completed 80 per cent of the construction work for the three railway overpasses,” he added. Visiting Chittagong-Feni, this correspondent found that the authorities had opened the widened parts of the four-lane highway, where vehicles were found running smoothly and without any tailbacks. Mohammad Musa, a driver of Star Line, said, “Now, we can reach Chittagong-Feni in just one-and-a-half hours without any trouble.” “We only slow our buses down at intersections or in market areas. Otherwise, passengers can reach their destinations without any hassles,” said Md Harun, a driver of Tisha Paribahan, heading to Chittagong. On June 23, transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader announced that the four-lanes of the Dhaka-Chittagong and Joydebpur-Mymensingh highways would be opened by the Prime Minister before Eid-ul-Fitr. “Trees will be planted in the middle of the highway for beautification. We’re waiting for monsoon to come in full swing before planting the trees,” said Zulfiquar Ahmed, project manager-4 of RHD, Chittagong.
As the country’s prime port is situated in Chittagong, the road is the most important link for business and communication. The Chittagong Port handles about 6,000 TUES (twenty feet equivalent container) every day and more than 5,000–6,000 trucks leave the port for other parts of the country. The four-lane highway project was undertaken in 2006 and the design was finalised in 2010. The expansion work began in 2011 at a cost of Tk. 1,655 crore.
Sources in the highway police said 30,000 to 35,000 vehicles run on the Dhaka-Chittagong route everyday. Expansion work of the much-hyped 190.48-km-long highway to turn it into dual carriageways has been finished, said the roads and highway department (RHD). All the 23 bridges and 242 culverts on the highway stretch have been reworked, while 80 per cent of the construction work for three railways overpasses at Chittagong Fuzdarhat, Feni and Comilla has been completed.
Altaf Hossain Khan, director of the four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway project, told The Independent, “We’ve finished the work. Now, the highway is ready to be opened. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the highway on July 2.” “Our project completion time was till December 2016. But we’ve completed the work long before that and the four-lane highway is going to be opened for the smooth journey of home-bound people during the upcoming Eid-ul-fir,” he said.
“We’ve completed 80 per cent of the construction work for the three railway overpasses,” he added. Visiting Chittagong-Feni, this correspondent found that the authorities had opened the widened parts of the four-lane highway, where vehicles were found running smoothly and without any tailbacks. Mohammad Musa, a driver of Star Line, said, “Now, we can reach Chittagong-Feni in just one-and-a-half hours without any trouble.” “We only slow our buses down at intersections or in market areas. Otherwise, passengers can reach their destinations without any hassles,” said Md Harun, a driver of Tisha Paribahan, heading to Chittagong. On June 23, transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader announced that the four-lanes of the Dhaka-Chittagong and Joydebpur-Mymensingh highways would be opened by the Prime Minister before Eid-ul-Fitr. “Trees will be planted in the middle of the highway for beautification. We’re waiting for monsoon to come in full swing before planting the trees,” said Zulfiquar Ahmed, project manager-4 of RHD, Chittagong.
As the country’s prime port is situated in Chittagong, the road is the most important link for business and communication. The Chittagong Port handles about 6,000 TUES (twenty feet equivalent container) every day and more than 5,000–6,000 trucks leave the port for other parts of the country. The four-lane highway project was undertaken in 2006 and the design was finalised in 2010. The expansion work began in 2011 at a cost of Tk. 1,655 crore.
