Route change in BRT line-3 design proposed

Munima Sultana | Published: February 20, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The Korean consultant appointed for doing detailed design work on the second dedicated bus lane from the city's Airport point to the Jhilmil project has proposed a change in the route to ease the project implementation process and lessen its cost.
Officials said the consulting firm found it necessary to change the route at the initial stage of its detailed design work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line-3 as it thinks it will help a large number of passengers in the Farmgate area get benefit of the facility.
Besides, it suggests avoiding construction of an elevated lane at Mohakhali, which may increase the BRT line-3 project cost to more than Tk 1.0 billion or 100 crore per kilometre at the point.
"If the BRT is run at grade, its cost is on an average US $ 0.5 million per kilometre. But the cost goes up to $ 10 million per kilometre, if any elevated structure is to be constructed," said Frits Olyslagers, the consultant for the BRT line-3.
During the feasibility study earlier, an Australian consultancy firm found feasible the BRT line-3 from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to the Jhilmil satellite town project via Banani, Mohakhali, Ramna, Motijheel and Sadarghat having a total of 16 stations.
Officials of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) said the design consultant thought the BRT should bring the large number of passengers in the Farmgate area under the facility, as it is the centre point for commuters heading in all directions-north to south or east to west.
Mr Frits Olyslagers said though the MRT (mass rapid transit) would run through the Farmgate area carrying a significant number of passengers in the north-south directions, it would, however, not be able to meet the passengers' total requirements.
He said the change in the BRT line-3 might remove the hassle of travel from Farmgate to Banani as well.
Sunjin Engineering and Architecture Co Ltd of Korea in its initial report also showed that the Dhaka city was facing some special challenges like heavy rush of passengers dependent on public transports and a high traffic corridor with a very limited secondary road network.
It also said the traffic flow below the Mohakhali flyover would be severely hampered, if columns of the proposed new flyover were constructed on the two-lane road for enabling the BRT buses to cross over the route to be constructed.
The officials said the proposal to revise the BRT line had also been made after failing to accommodate the dedicated two lanes on the Moghbazar flyover due to severe space constraints in the built-up areas.
They said the consultants doing the feasibility study earlier proposed a station at the Moghbazar crossing as part of the BRT line-3. It was also not possible to be adjusted to the Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover.
The Korean firm, which was appointed for doing the detailed design work on the BRT in November last shared its inception report with all stakeholders this week and proposed the revision.
The DTCA officials said they had in principle agreed on the proposal and that the Korean consultant would now start studying their proposal and finalise the route later on.