Move to construct 218-km Dhaka-Ctg expressway

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has taken a move to call tender for construction of the Dhaka-Chittagong expressway soon proposing 30 per cent vulnerable gap of funding (VGF).
RHD officials said the project office has already placed a plan in this regard to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) proposing to carry out the entire 218-kilometre highway work including seven interchanges and three rest areas into four packages.
They said the expressway's design work is now almost at final stage estimating the cost at Tk 290 billion or Tk 180 billion depending on approval of the plan.
"If the six-lane expressway along with two emergency lanes is approved for construction, the cost is likely to be Tk 290 billion. But there is a proposal to construct four lanes keeping the provision of constructing two emergency lanes for future construction for which the cost has been estimated at Tk 180 billion," said an official.
He, however, said the decision of construction including VGF offer will be finalised by the authorities concerned including the Bangladesh Public-Private Partnership Authority calculating future traffic projection and models.
The RHD had taken the plan to construct the Dhaka-Chittagong expressway under PPP considering increasing traffic on the country's main corridor with technical supports of the Asian Development Bank.
The detailed design of the work is likely to be completed by September.
The Dhaka-Chittagong Elevated Expressway is to establish uninterrupted connectivity between the two economically important cities of the country with increased traffic facilitating trade and business.
The corridor is also an important corridor for establishing regional connectivity including with the Asian Highway.
The present Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway receives three times more than the estimated traffic volume predicting disruption of the traffic system by 2025.
However, the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, the country's first PPP project in road infrastructure, was awarded 27 per cent VGF.
When asked about offering of higher VGF though the corridor is likely to get increasing traffic, the official said the VGF is offered to lessen rate of tolls. The concessionaires who will offer lowest VGF are likely to get priority in the selection, he also added.
The official also said the VGF offer will be finalised after the Ministry of Finance approves it.
Sources said the MoRTB will soon send the proposal to the PPP Authority which will scrutinise and finalise it on getting approval from the Ministry of Finance.
They said if the tender plan is approved, the first package work starting from Daudkandi to Mainamati in Comilla will be opened within one or two months. The 84km package will have some elevated parts and interchanges.
According to the design, the 218-km Dhaka-Chittagong expressway will be constructed along the existing Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway. It will have 21 km elevated part including six kilometres within 18 km area from Kumira and Chittagong.
Three other packages are Comilla to Feni, Feni to Kumira and Kumira to Chittagong.
The entire project will have seven interchanges and three rest areas to facilitate transports with fueling and wash room facilities. The interchanges are proposed to facilitate exit and entry from the expressway from Madanpur, Daudkandi, Mainamati, Paduar Bazar, Feni and Baruarhat.
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