Even though seven flyovers and overpasses were constructed in the capital over the last decade, experts hardly find them an effective solution to nagging traffic jam.
They consider the flyovers and overpasses built without taking long-term plan into account as 'irreversible damage'.
The flyovers and overpasses have been constructed in different intersections of the city at a cost of around Tk 11 billion since 2004 aiming to establish links with at least 50 areas.
Besides, Tk 7.22 billion is being spent to construct a flyover at the city centre while investment of around Tk 90 billion is also expected to fund construction of an expressway in the city as a remedy for traffic gridlocks.
The experts said flyovers and overpasses constructed so far have failed to serve the purposes as solution to traffic jam as these have taken up a major portion of the existing roads, limiting the movement of mass transports.
According to transport experts and urban planners, flyovers are proven solution to private cars using top infrastructure to avoid traffic gridlocks for a limited mileage.
But the people who travel a short distance by public transports don't use the flyovers as it isn't possible to give them scope of alighting there, they added.
They alleged that the constructed flyovers and overpasses have a limited scope for the mass transit system like Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
Strategic Transport Plan (STP), the 20-year transport policy approved in 2009, has recommended introducing MRTs and BRTs as well as elevated expressway as a long-term remedy for traffic congestion.
MRT and BRT are aimed to help thousands of commuters cross different corridors in the shortest possible time, reducing dependency of the people on private cars or small vehicles carrying passengers.
The expressway which has been planned through elevated way will enable the highway traffic to avoid entering the city and take a significant number of city's traffic through different ramps inside the city.
It is found that Mayor Hanif flyover, Banani-Mirpur flyover and overpass, Kuril flyover, Mohakhali flyover, Khilgaon flyover and Bijoy Sarani flyover added 18 kilometres to city's road infrastructure, but these infrastructures are causing severe traffic jam, causing immense sufferings to the passengers.
There was no consistency between these flyovers and overpasses to use each other traffic through coordination. Over 11-km Mayor Hanif flyover has links between Shanir Akhra and Palassey via Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Hatkhola, Tikatuli, Joykali Mondir, Kaptanbazar, Gulistan and Fulbaria, but it has spoiled the option for the city's important gateway to having links with 32 south-eastern districts, including suburban cities. The 8.2-km under-construction Moghbazar-Mouchak-Malibagh flyover will would not bring any solution to the locality as it took away two lanes of the existing roads and have 16 more ramps in the congested areas.
It has blocked the option of dedicated lane for buses under BRT and introduction of MRT on Biswa Road via Rampura.
Another flyover being planned by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) is likely to aggravate traffic jam at Shantinagar for having only 200-metre gap in its ramps with other ramps of Moghbazar-Malibagh flyover being constructed by Local Government Engineering Department.
Sources said the government agencies involved with flyover infrastructure always takes up project on an ad hoc basis hardly without any coordination among them. As a result, they fail to achieve their main objectives to ease traffic jam. Even they don't follow STP to insert the options into it.
"For not having coordination among these agencies and having no consistency in one flyover with another, no one will get benefit from these flyovers," said transport expert Dr Mohammad Shamsul Hoque.
Also a professor of Civil Engineering Department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Hoque said all these infrastructures are likely to be irreparable damage for the city.
"An Infrastructure should be planned as right medicine for traffic jam. Like wrong medicinal impact, its consequence is obvious on other cases," he told the FE.
Sources said investment made to ease traffic jam goes down the drain for various reasons such as considering the cost while devising plan, giving priority to decision taken on point of political view, appointing non-technical officials on deputation in infrastructures like important projects.
"If an official is asked to build a complex flyover having no knowledge of trips, traffic needs, travel behaviour of an area to another, future scenario, how can the flyover be coordinated with other projects," said an official involved with an important project.
He said this kind of official always consider managing the project rather making the project successful.
It is also learnt that due to non-coordination among the implementing agencies, the RAJUK flyover has been planned to raise the height of seven-storey building to cross Babu Bazar Bridge in congested Old Dhaka and MRT line at Paltan crossing.
This flyover will also damage the BRT-3 as it would eat up almost eight kilometres of the existing road through which the dedicated bus lane would reach its destination in Jhilmil project.
Despite having objection to construction of Babu Bazar flyover, it is now being lobbied to include the project in the STP.
Dr Sarwar Jahan, professor of Urban & Regional Planning Department at BUET, said due to lack of coordination and comprehensive solution to traffic jam, the city is also not able to introduce the multimodal transport system for damaging all surface and underground options. "We should not consider infrastructure development as solution to traffic jam. We have to consider introducing services like metro, waterway, railway to find solution to traffic congestion," he told the FE.
Prof Shamsul Hoque said since the city has already lost lands, it is now important to consider constructing any infrastructure with options possible in the future.
For example, he said MRT height always remains on the top and any infrastructure like flyovers can use the gap and even use the same piers to save the space of existing roads.
However, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) and Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) have worked together to raise the height of MRT line-6 at for allowing DEE to touch its grounds at Farmgate.
But it is found that this has not done along the 20-km corridor. The MRT-6 is being planned to cross elevated way with 13-metre height, but its height worldwide remains 22 metres.
Sources said as the government is always worried over managing funds and city's many options have been damaged for MRT, the project office also doesn't place the demand for raising MRT height to keep options of any other infrastructures open in future.
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