Building an elevated expressway to ease traffic jams
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Shahiduzzaman Khan
THE cabinet committee on economic affairs last week gave the much-cherished nod for constructing the proposed Dhaka City Elevated Expressway under Private Public Partnership (PPP) initiative to ease traffic congestions in the capital. The committee has asked the communications ministry to conduct a feasibility study and invite tenders for the project.
According to reports, the elevated expressway will be constructed keeping the proposition of constructing an underground railway system in consideration so that there will be no problem in building a subway network. The project for constructing about a 40-kilometre-long elevated expressway is expected to cost US$ 1.231 billion. The proposed route will be from Zia International Airport to Jatrabari, touching old airport, Sonargaon Hotel intersection, Magbazar, Malibag, New Market, Kataban, Gulshan and Kuril. The elevated expressway, first of its kind in Bangladesh, will be built in three phases spanning over eight years from the date of commencement of the project.
In the first phase, some 20 kilometres (kms) route from Old Airport to Jatrabari through Magbazar Malibag and Sayedabad will be constructed at a cost of about Tk 67 billion while a 13 kms route from Kataban to Gulshan will be built in the second phase at a cost of about Tk 7.05 billion. Some 7.0 kms stretch of the elevated expressway from New Airport to Kuril Avenue at Banani will be built in the third phase costing around Tk 12.18 billion. A project to construct a subway from Gazipur to New Airport is also under government consideration.
At least 30,000 vehicles will pass through the expressway every hour, reducing traffic congestions significantly in the overpopulated city. It is expected that the elevated expressway will provide a permanent solution to the huge traffic congestion in the capital city of 360 square km inhabiting around 14 million people. The city has only 330 kms of roads.
However, the former army-led caretaker government wanted to get an underground railway network built by the private sector first on a priority basis to solve the transport problem and mitigate traffic congestion in the capital. It had opted for the metro (underground railway) out of the three transport projects it had been considering. After a thorough review of the three projects, the caretaker government had finally decided to go ahead with the metro system considering various factors such as cost, speed, land use pattern, passenger carrying capacity, fare, fuel efficiency, safety and impact on the environment.
According to a comparative study of the three transport systems, the metro will carry around 90,000 passengers per hour while the elevated expressway will carry only 20,000 and monorail around 30,000 per hour at speeds of 120 km, 60 km and 70 km per hour respectively. The construction of each kilometre of the underground railway track was estimated at around $60 to $100 million, while the cost of building the same length of the elevated expressway and monorail was estimated at around $40 to $75 million and $50 to $120 million respectively. The fare of metro was seen the cheapest among the three modes of transport as it will charge between Tk 10 to 25 per passenger, depending on the distance, while the elevated expressway will charge Tk 100 to Tk 300 per vehicle and monorail will charge Tk 40 to 70 per passenger.
For metro rail, the study found that it would take at least two years to complete all the initial procedures such as conducting a feasibility study, preparing tender documents and selecting an eligible firm to begin the construction of the mega transport project. Since the time factor is of utmost importance, the present government decided to build the elevated expressway first, then go for underground railway.
Side by side, the government also decided to go ahead with a long-term mega project to establish an integrated environment-friendly traffic management system in greater Dhaka to relieve people of the nagging traffic congestion. The 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) includes 17,400 square kms of water and surface ways in Dhaka and neighbouring Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Manikganj districts. Metro train services, elevated motorways, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), construction of roads connecting the east of the capital to the west, flyovers, footbridges and new roads, and repair of damaged thoroughfares are the main features of the plan. It was aimed at a safe, reliable and affordable transport system in the city with pedestrians getting the highest priority.
It is expected that the implementation of the plan would provide city dwellers safety and alleviate traffic congestion. The STP has been designed to be implemented in three phases. Six roads would be built to connect the east of the capital to the west and link the city to Dhaka bypass in the first phase. The planning, designing, financing and other preparatory work for the three motorways were done and awaits implementation in the first and second phases.
But the opponents of the Plan say the 20-year STP for Dhaka city, if implemented, will intensify traffic congestion and increase travel cost in the city as the Plan has given importance to long-distance travelling ignoring the short trips. They said the STP has to be corrected putting emphasis on short trips because 76 per cent of the people in Dhaka city travels short distances either on foot or by rickshaws.
The decision to relocate the Kamalapur Railway Station to Joydevpur -- from the downtown to a remote place -- does not make sense because thousands of people who will reach Joydevpur, must come to Dhaka by buses or other modes of transports, which will add to traffic jams and air pollution. Besides, the recommendations of making more flyovers will be another blow to traffic management of the city. Keeping more footpaths for pedestrians, space for bicycles and rickshaws for a better transport management would be a wiser decision, which the STP did not prioritise in its policy options, according to some transport analysts.
However, there might be some mistakes in formulating the strategic transport plan (STP). But disagreements over the STP notwithstanding, it is expected that the planners would correct mistakes in the plan and make it more citizen-friendly. Although the plan was endorsed in 2006, the past governments did not do anything for its implementation. It is time to make the capital city habitable by cleansing it of environment pollution and traffic jams.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com
THE cabinet committee on economic affairs last week gave the much-cherished nod for constructing the proposed Dhaka City Elevated Expressway under Private Public Partnership (PPP) initiative to ease traffic congestions in the capital. The committee has asked the communications ministry to conduct a feasibility study and invite tenders for the project.
According to reports, the elevated expressway will be constructed keeping the proposition of constructing an underground railway system in consideration so that there will be no problem in building a subway network. The project for constructing about a 40-kilometre-long elevated expressway is expected to cost US$ 1.231 billion. The proposed route will be from Zia International Airport to Jatrabari, touching old airport, Sonargaon Hotel intersection, Magbazar, Malibag, New Market, Kataban, Gulshan and Kuril. The elevated expressway, first of its kind in Bangladesh, will be built in three phases spanning over eight years from the date of commencement of the project.
In the first phase, some 20 kilometres (kms) route from Old Airport to Jatrabari through Magbazar Malibag and Sayedabad will be constructed at a cost of about Tk 67 billion while a 13 kms route from Kataban to Gulshan will be built in the second phase at a cost of about Tk 7.05 billion. Some 7.0 kms stretch of the elevated expressway from New Airport to Kuril Avenue at Banani will be built in the third phase costing around Tk 12.18 billion. A project to construct a subway from Gazipur to New Airport is also under government consideration.
At least 30,000 vehicles will pass through the expressway every hour, reducing traffic congestions significantly in the overpopulated city. It is expected that the elevated expressway will provide a permanent solution to the huge traffic congestion in the capital city of 360 square km inhabiting around 14 million people. The city has only 330 kms of roads.
However, the former army-led caretaker government wanted to get an underground railway network built by the private sector first on a priority basis to solve the transport problem and mitigate traffic congestion in the capital. It had opted for the metro (underground railway) out of the three transport projects it had been considering. After a thorough review of the three projects, the caretaker government had finally decided to go ahead with the metro system considering various factors such as cost, speed, land use pattern, passenger carrying capacity, fare, fuel efficiency, safety and impact on the environment.
According to a comparative study of the three transport systems, the metro will carry around 90,000 passengers per hour while the elevated expressway will carry only 20,000 and monorail around 30,000 per hour at speeds of 120 km, 60 km and 70 km per hour respectively. The construction of each kilometre of the underground railway track was estimated at around $60 to $100 million, while the cost of building the same length of the elevated expressway and monorail was estimated at around $40 to $75 million and $50 to $120 million respectively. The fare of metro was seen the cheapest among the three modes of transport as it will charge between Tk 10 to 25 per passenger, depending on the distance, while the elevated expressway will charge Tk 100 to Tk 300 per vehicle and monorail will charge Tk 40 to 70 per passenger.
For metro rail, the study found that it would take at least two years to complete all the initial procedures such as conducting a feasibility study, preparing tender documents and selecting an eligible firm to begin the construction of the mega transport project. Since the time factor is of utmost importance, the present government decided to build the elevated expressway first, then go for underground railway.
Side by side, the government also decided to go ahead with a long-term mega project to establish an integrated environment-friendly traffic management system in greater Dhaka to relieve people of the nagging traffic congestion. The 20-year Strategic Transport Plan (STP) includes 17,400 square kms of water and surface ways in Dhaka and neighbouring Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Gazipur and Manikganj districts. Metro train services, elevated motorways, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), construction of roads connecting the east of the capital to the west, flyovers, footbridges and new roads, and repair of damaged thoroughfares are the main features of the plan. It was aimed at a safe, reliable and affordable transport system in the city with pedestrians getting the highest priority.
It is expected that the implementation of the plan would provide city dwellers safety and alleviate traffic congestion. The STP has been designed to be implemented in three phases. Six roads would be built to connect the east of the capital to the west and link the city to Dhaka bypass in the first phase. The planning, designing, financing and other preparatory work for the three motorways were done and awaits implementation in the first and second phases.
But the opponents of the Plan say the 20-year STP for Dhaka city, if implemented, will intensify traffic congestion and increase travel cost in the city as the Plan has given importance to long-distance travelling ignoring the short trips. They said the STP has to be corrected putting emphasis on short trips because 76 per cent of the people in Dhaka city travels short distances either on foot or by rickshaws.
The decision to relocate the Kamalapur Railway Station to Joydevpur -- from the downtown to a remote place -- does not make sense because thousands of people who will reach Joydevpur, must come to Dhaka by buses or other modes of transports, which will add to traffic jams and air pollution. Besides, the recommendations of making more flyovers will be another blow to traffic management of the city. Keeping more footpaths for pedestrians, space for bicycles and rickshaws for a better transport management would be a wiser decision, which the STP did not prioritise in its policy options, according to some transport analysts.
However, there might be some mistakes in formulating the strategic transport plan (STP). But disagreements over the STP notwithstanding, it is expected that the planners would correct mistakes in the plan and make it more citizen-friendly. Although the plan was endorsed in 2006, the past governments did not do anything for its implementation. It is time to make the capital city habitable by cleansing it of environment pollution and traffic jams.
szkhan@thefinancialexpress-bd.com