Countrywide mega traffic infrastructures under study

The government now moves to build overhead expressways along potential national highways and second bridges over major rivers under a mega traffic plan.
Officials said the objective is to make nationwide road infrastructures ready for growing traffic beyond 2030.
Building such communications networks is particularly being seen as an imperative for the fact that Bangladesh is poised to become an important regional transport corridor.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) has already directed zonal offices under Roads and Highways Department (RHD) to recommend the possibility of developing the infrastructures in their respective areas, the sources said.
The RHD offices have been asked to conduct survey on traffic movement on regular basis to find trend in increases and guide the department concerned about conducting feasibility study on building expressways or bridges--whatever needed where.
"We have already taken enough measures to develop uninterrupted road infrastructures in the country. So time has come to go for next steps--expressways and second bridges over major rivers," said Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary MAN Siddique.
This, he said, will help ensure readiness of roads to take traffic loads with Bangladesh's graduation to middle-income country and upper- middle-income country and so on.
With the completion of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway, the government has already taken steps to build expressway on the same corridor.
The RHD has almost completed detailed design work of turning 1750- kilometre national highways into four-lane broadways. Under this plan, work on Joydevpur-Elenga route has already begun.
On the other hand, Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) under the same ministry has made a move to conduct feasibility study on construction of expressway on the entire corridor in elevated form.
Besides, work also started to upgrade Dhaka-Mawa road to expressway to take loads of both Mongla and Pyra ports through Padma Bridge.
Officials said on completion of the four-lane works, the country will be ready to take the burgeoning traffic loads up to 2020-21. So the RHD has moved to start necessary work just now for managing the traffic beyond 2030.
They, however, said on getting recommendations from zonal offices, the RHD will then conduct feasibility studies on finding scope of expressways and bridges to start construction in time.
"These will be constructed mainly targeting district Sadar but, if necessary, proposal for developing upazila towns would be taken into consideration, depending on creating scope of increase in economic activities," said the secretary.
He, however, said upazila towns or islands are to be connected with multimodal transport systems as investing in bridges may not be found economically viable at this stage.
smunima@yahoo.com