Experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) have recommended closing the long-delayed Gazipur-Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project and converting the 20.1-kilometre corridor into a high-speed roadway instead.
The recommendation came despite nearly 97 per cent of the project work being completed after spending Tk 28.10 billion over the past 15 years.
The BUET team, led by Prof Mohammad Shamsul Hoque, suggested using the eight completed infrastructures under the BRT lane to improve the highway and turn it into a faster and more efficient route.
Earlier, two separate committees also made similar recommendations and advised the government to take a final decision after the formation of an elected government.
The committees were formed to investigate the poor condition of the Tk 42.86 billion project and identify those responsible for the delays and mismanagement.
Sources said the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD), which received the BUET report earlier this month, is expected to hold a meeting next week to finalise the future of the project.
The BUET report also advised against buying buses for either private operators or the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), saying such a move would not bring real benefits and could create more problems for road users.
It said the BRT corridor had reduced the efficiency of National Highway-3 (Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway) and limited future options for grade separation due to the construction of interchanges.
The experts noted that better integration with commuter train services could provide a more effective solution to the long-standing transport problems of Gazipur residents and support the industrial corridor's economic activities.
They also suggested taking a separate project to convert the BRT lane into an access-controlled and junction-free road. Station facilities could be reused in other projects or sold through auction, while the BRT depot could be turned into a BRTC bus terminal.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges sought BUET's opinion after the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) rejected the project's fourth revision proposal.
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the lead agency of the project, had sought an extension until 2028 and an additional Tk 23.29 billion to complete the remaining work.
However, ECNEC described the project as "notorious and unplanned" and ordered the formation of two committees -- one to suggest ways to close the project and another to identify those responsible for its poor condition.
The project, titled "Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project (GDSUTP)", was approved in 2012 following a feasibility study by the Asian Development Bank, with an initial estimated cost of Tk 20.38 billion.
The project under its third revision ended in December 2024 after it failed to get approval for the fourth revision of the Development Project Proposal (DPP).
Officials said agencies including the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, Local Government Engineering Department and RHD have already spent Tk 28.10 billion.
However, closure of the project without a time extension has created further complications, as two Chinese contractors have claimed Tk 5.0 billion as variation costs. The project faced repeated delays due to rising costs, design flaws, bus procurement problems, faulty feasibility studies, poor contractor selection and weak coordination among the agencies involved.
smunima@yahoo.com
