New national highway to connect entire southwest with east

A plan awaits approval for converting regional highways into a six-lane national highway connecting the country's deprived southwestern zone with the eastern part passing by the capital, officials said on Saturday.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has planned the longest-connectivity network. The state-run road developer aims to connect Khulna and Barishal divisions with the eastern part through connecting the district of Laxmipur crossing over the mighty river Meghna, they said.
Its proposal provides for upgrading nearly 131 kilometers of Khulna-Bagerhat-Jhalkathi-Barishal and Barishal-Bhola-Laxmipur highways into six-lane National Highways (NH) to facilitate communications between the country's southwestern part and Chittagong division, said a senior Road Transport and Bridges Ministry official.
"We have already requested the Planning Commission (PC) for converting the roads to NH from its current status, as the route is one of the important corridors for connecting the east-west regions of the country," he told the FE.
The official said since the Meghna River is one of the barriers to connecting the Khulna, Barishal and Chittagong divisions, they proposed to build the road for shorter and smooth communications.
The roads will be merged and upgraded into six-lane broadway after getting the final nod from the PC for conversion into the NH status, the ministry official said.
"There are two parts of the proposed NH: Khulna-Barishal and Barishal- Laxmipur. These two parts have been proposed to be merged into one national highway," he added.
Currently, Bangladesh has eight main arterial NHs which have connected different divisional towns with the capital city, Dhaka.
The NH1 has connected Chittagong city with the capital , Dhaka, the NH2 with the divisional city of Sylhet and bordering Tamabil, the NH3 with Mymensingh city, NH4 with Jamalpur district town, NH5 with Rangpur division, NH6 with Rajshahi, NH7 with Khulna, and the NH8 with Barishal.
Besides, there are some sub-NHs which are part of the main NH or separate ones. The sub-NHs are determined based on their importance and traffic volume, RHD officials said.
According to the RHD, the total length of NHs in the country stretches along 3,990.75 km, the regional highways measure 4897.71km, and the zilla roads comprise 13,587.82km.
The ministry official said if the 131-km-long Khulna-Bagerhat-Jhalkathi-Barishal and Barishal-Bhola-Laxmipur highways can be widened into the proposed 6-lane National Highway, it will reduce travel time.
Passengers and freight from Khulna, Barishal and Chittagong regions will be transported easily at a lesser time and cost, he added.
"Although there are two bridges, the mighty Meghna River will be the key barrier for the connections. But we have a plan to construct bridges on the rivers in future. Then a smooth communications backbone will be set up," he says about the megaproject on cross-country connectivity.
Currently, travellers and traders have to pass through hurdles of ferry services on the route.

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