Dhaka Bypass near complete
Sohel Islam
The construction of the Dhaka Bypass is expected to be complete this year, helping thousands of vehicles to travel to and from eastern and western parts of the country without getting caught up in the city's traffic jams. The entry point of the bypass is Madan, which then will touch Bhulta via Kanchan, finally joining the Joytebpur crossing, according to a meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office last month. The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is supervising the construction of the bypass at a cost of Tk 255.65 crore. The bypass will be open for traffic by the end of this fiscal year. The total length of the bypass is 48 kilometres. Its construction began in 1997, with the Government of Bangladesh financing the entire cost. "Apart from 12 kilometres, its construction is almost complete. Initially we are making the width of the bypass 24 feet with two lanes. Later it will be extended to a width of 42 feet with four lanes," said superintendent engineer of RHD (Dhaka Division) M A Malek. All vehicles will have to pay tolls for the use of this bypass. "We are yet to fix the tolls for the vehicles. We are planning to install the toll counters at both ends of the bypass. Finally we will hand over toll collection to private operators. The maximum toll should not cross Tk 30," said another high official of RHD. "Despite opening the bypass for traffic at the end of this year, vehicles will still have to use the ferry service at Kanchan in Narayanganj because the bridge there will not be completed until 2005," said M A Malek. Construction of the Tk 65.5 crore, 415 metre long bridge at Kanchan started in 2002. "Once the bypass is opened for vehicles traffic congestion in the city, especially near the Kanchpur Bridge and Sayedabad is expected to decrease to some extent," said M A Malek.
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