Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project

Lack of prompt decision on some of the hindrances facing the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway project is reportedly causing undesirable delay for its completion. Over and above, implementation of the project without addressing a few of the critical tasks may risk it to be less purposeful than it was originally planned to be. One of the challenging tasks the authorities are presently facing is the designing of suitable alternatives to few busy intersections posing problems for uninterrupted traffic even after completion of the four-lane highway.
Of these intersections, one is at Mohipal, a critical point where traffic gridlock is a common sight because of its links with important business hubs such as Feni, Chowmuhani and Lakshmipur. The other is at Moinamati near Comilla. A report published in this newspaper says the project authorities are reportedly considering a flyover at Mohipal, but they are yet to decide about the other one, which is believed to be more traffic-prone. There may be few more where prompt decision is required. Surveys conducted prior to starting the project work must have outlined the barriers that are likely to negate much of the benefits that the four-lane highway promises. Although the Tk 32 billion project was revised four times due mainly to inclusion of new components, problems relating to some of the critical intersections were not adequately addressed.
So long, the government has been highlighting the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project ever since it was conceived as one of the major development projects it undertook with high hopes but there were indications from the beginning that not all the components along with a good deal of technical studies were done in a well coordinated manner. Given the complicated nature of the project involving different types of traffic solutions such as grade separation, construction of flyovers, overpasses and bypasses, better coordination would have resulted in easing some of the difficulties that it has been facing during the course of its implementation. Some of the vital decisions reportedly were taken at different stages of the on-going work, that too in an isolated manner. Although the project contract has been awarded to three firms including one foreign one, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), the overseeing authority of the project, is also implementing a portion of the project work that involves building some overpasses and bridges.
One of the key lacunas associated with the highways in the country is that since these were not well-planned, most of them navigate through densely inhabited locations, townships, market places and so on. As a result, freeing these from interruptions of all sorts including accident risks forms the key to successful completion of the project. The authorities, understandably, have to be on full alert to these and other related issues. At the same time, indecision or hastily taken decision must not deliver what is expected of it.