The speed of vehicles on the expressway will be 60 km per hour
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Photo: Collected
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the much-awaited Elevated Expressway Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Farmgate section for traffic on Saturday (September 2).
Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project Director AHMS Akhter said, "The Prime Minister will inaugurate the expressway today at 3:30 pm in a ceremony organized at the old trade fair ground in Shere-bangla Nagar."
The Airport-Farmgate section will be opened for traffic the day after the inauguration, the official said.
He said, the length of this part is about 11.5 kilometers. There are 15 ramps for boarding. Among them, two ramps at Banani and Mohakhali will remain closed for the time being. The maximum speed limit for vehicles on the expressway will be 60 km per hour.
Three wheelers, bicycles and pedestrians will not be allowed to ply on the expressway. The motorbike cannot run now.
Earlier, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges fixed the toll rate of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Farmgate section of Dhaka Elevated Expressway from Tk. 80 to Tk. 400.
Cars, taxis, jeeps, sports utility vehicles, microbuses (below 16 seats) and light trucks (below 3 tonnes) toll rate Tk. 80 for crossing the Airport-Farmgate section from any point under category 1.
Toll rate for medium trucks (up to six wheelers) for crossing the route from any point is Tk.320 under Category-2.
The toll rate for trucks (more than six wheelers) for crossing the route from any point under category 3 is Tk. 400. Toll rate for any bus (16 seater or above) under category-4 is Tk.160 for crossing the route from any point.
The total length of elevated expressway from Kaola, Kuril, Banani, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Kamalapur, Syedabad, Jatrabari to Qutubkhali on Dhaka-Chittagong highway is 46.73 km.
Initially, the speed limit on the expressway will be 60 kmph and it will take 10 minutes for vehicles to cover the distance of 11 km from HSIA to Farmgate.
With 11.5 km of mainline and 11 km of ramps, the length of the section will be 22.5 km. Initially 13 out of 15 ramps of this section will be opened. Ramps at Banani and Mohakhali will be opened only after completion of construction.
The total cost of the project is estimated at Tk. 8,940 crore, of which the Viability Gap Funding (VGF) fund is Tk. 2,413 crore, which will be provided by the Government of Bangladesh.
First Dhaka Elevated Expressway (FDEE) Company Limited is an investment company. It includes Italian Thai Development Public Company Limited with a 51 percent stake, China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group (CSI) with a 34 percent stake and Sinohydro Corporation Limited with a 15 percent stake.
As per the project, the first contract was signed on January 19, 2011 and the review contract was signed on December 15, 2013 and the project completion period was from July 2011 to June 2024.
The construction work of the second phase from Banani Railway Station to Moghbazar Rail Crossing is progressing rapidly.
Several infrastructure projects have started in Bangladesh in the last 15 years. Considering the size, budget and economic impact, many of these projects have been called mega-projects.
The government has identified some of them as fast track projects. Among these, Padma multipurpose bridge, Bangladesh's first metro rail project MRT Line-6 and Chandra-Elenga four-lane highway have been completed.
The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, South Asia's first and longest underwater road tunnel, is expected to be opened for traffic soon.
Other Projects - Padma Bridge Rail Link, Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Rail Link, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Matarbari 1200 MW Coal Based Power Plant, Payra Deep Sea Port, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Railway Bridge over Jamuna River. The economic growth of the country and therefore the main focus of the government is now to complete them on time.
After coming to power in 2009, the Awami League government undertook several monumental development projects aimed at transforming the country's communication, transport and power infrastructure.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government partially launched the modern transport system Dhaka Metrorail and inaugurated other mega projects including the Padma multipurpose bridge.