PM to inaugurate Dhaka elevated expressway today

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the much-waited elevated expressway from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Farmgate for traffic on Saturday.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to inaugurate the expressway at a programme to be held at the old trade fair ground at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka around 3.30pm.

The length of this section is around 11.5 km and there are 15 ramps for boarding. Out of these, two ramps at Banani and Mohakhali will remain closed for the time being. The maximum speed limit for traffic on the expressway will be 60 kilometer per hour.

Three-wheelers, bicycles and pedestrians will not be allowed to move on the expressway, while motorbikes cannot run on it right now.

The road transport and bridges ministry fixed the toll rates for the Dhaka Elevated Expressway's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Farmgate section ranging from Tk 80 to Tk 400.

Under category 1, the toll rate for car, taxi, jeep, sports utility vehicle, microbus (under-16 seat) and light truck (under-3 tonnes) for crossing the airport-Farmgate section from any point is Tk 80.

The toll rate for medium trucks (up to six wheels) for crossing the route from any point is Tk 320 under category 2.

Under category 3, the toll rate for trucks (over six wheels) for crossing the route from any point is Tk 400. The toll rate for any bus (16 seated or above) for crossing the route from any point is Tk 160 under category 4.

The total length of the elevated expressway is 46.73km covering Kawla, Kuril, Banani, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Kamalapur, Sayedabad, Jatrabari to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.

The speed limit on the expressway will be 60km per hour and vehicles need 10 minutes to travel the 11kilometer distance from the HSIA to Farmgate.

With an 11.5km mainline and 11km ramp, the length of the part will be 22.5km. Initially, 13 out of 15 ramps in this part will be opened. The ramps at Banani and Mohakhali will be opened once their construction is complete.

The total expenditure of the project is estimated at Tk 8,940 crore, while the viability gap funding is Tk 2,413 crore, which will be provided by the Bangladesh government.

The First Dhaka Elevated Expressway (FDEE) Company Ltd is the investor company. Italian Thai Development Public Company Ltd has 51 percent shares, China Shandong International Economic and Technical Co-operation Group (CSI) holds 34 percent while Sinohydro Corporation Ltd has 15 percent shares.

As per the project, the first contract was signed on January 19, 2011 and the reviewed agreement was signed on December 15, 2013, and the project completion period was July 2011-June 2024.

Construction of the second phase Banani Railway Station to Moghbazar Railway Crossing is progressing fast.