39-km Dhaka East-West Expressway to be built at Tk16,388cr

The Ministry of Road, Transport and Bridges is taking up a project, Dhaka East-West Expressway Project, to ease traffic congestion in the metropolitan Dhaka and divert freight trucks and long distance buses away from the city.

The 39-kilometre project---primarily an elevated expressway---will be built on the basis of Public Private Partnership (PPP) at a cost of Tk 16,388.50 crore, officials said.

If implemented, there would be a radical change in the communication system between several regions of the country, an official of the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry, said.

The scheme, titled, ‘Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway Project' will be placed before Wednesday’s Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs meeting for approval as per the Procurement Guidelines for PPP Projects.

Officials said that 12 foreign investors have already shown their interest to invest in the project.

The Road, Transport and Bridges Ministry proposal said the population of the city is growing rapidly and that the city is the largest metropolis in the country and it has the highest population density.

The existing road networks of the city are insufficient for the movement of the huge population. The city traffic faces immense pressure especially while transporting passengers and goods from the South-Western part of the country to the North and North-Western part and along the Chittagong-Sylhet route. This sometimes causes unbearable traffic jams in the metropolis.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority conducted a feasibility study for construction of the 'Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway' in 2017 to mitigate traffic congestion in Dhaka city.

The proposed expressway is compatible with the Outer Ring Road referred to in the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (RSTP). It will start from Baliapur of Savar upazila of Dhaka district on Dhaka-Aricha highway and terminate at Langalband of Sonargaon upazila of Dhaka-Chittagong highway via Keraniganj upazila, Narayanganj Sadar upazila and Bandar upazila, respectively.

The elevated expressway will have about a 25 kilometre ramp. When built, vehicles from the South-Western part of the country will be able to move directly to the North-Western part of the country and towards Chittagong and Sylhet regions, bypassing Dhaka city. As a result, traffic congestion in Dhaka and its adjoining areas will greatly be reduced.

As per the feasibility study of the project, the estimated cost of construction of the four-lane expressway is Tk 16,388.50 crore.
According to the economic analysis of a survey, the net present value (NPV) of the project is Tk 949.60 crore while the benefit cost ratio (BCR) is 1:17 and the internal rate of return (IRR) is 13.3 percent.

The project will require acquisition of 316 acres of land. The price of the land, installation and other compensation will be provided by the public sector. In addition, the cost of relocating existing services in the project area will be borne by the government. Support to this PPP project will be extended including bearing these expenses.