Two expressway bridges over Turag River to open Wednesday
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Two bridges built over the Turag River will be opened to traffic tomorrow, Wednesday. The two side bridges were constructed from Dhaur intersection to Ashulia under the Dhaka Ashulia Elevated Expressway project.
Traffic will use both ends of the 3.71-kilometer bridges from Wednesday. Although they are not part of the expressway, the bridges were built as alternatives to the road below.
Project Director Md. Shafiqul Islam said, “The elevated expressway will be built to replace the at grade parallel road currently used by vehicles from Dhaur to Ashulia. However, two lane service bridges have been built as alternatives to the road below. One will carry traffic from Dhaur toward Ashulia and the other will carry traffic from Ashulia toward Dhaur.”
The two side bridges will be toll free. No toll will be collected on these roads in the future either. In addition to regular vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles and auto rickshaws will also be allowed to use the service bridges. Once traffic is shifted to the side bridges, construction of the main elevated expressway in this section will progress further.
According to project sources, the Dhaka Ashulia Elevated Expressway is being constructed with foreign loans as the country's second elevated expressway. The 24-kilometer elevated road currently has an estimated cost of Tk 27,046 crore. When the project was approved in 2017, its estimated cost was Tk 17,553 crore and 4 lakhs.
The project includes 24 kilometers of elevated road along with nearly 11 kilometers of ramps. It also includes a two lane Nabinagar flyover, a trumpet interchange at Baipayl, reconstruction of 14 kilometers of at grade roads, two lane bridges, overpasses and flyovers. Modern drainage systems, utility ducts and toll plazas are also part of the project.
The project was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in 2017. At the time, the target was to complete construction by June 2022. As the work could not be completed within the scheduled time, the project duration and cost have been increased several times.
The project is scheduled to run until June 2028. So far, 72 percent of the project has been completed. The challenges involved in implementing the project have been resolved. Work will now be accelerated further.
