First-ever express way opens today

The country's first- ever expressway on Jatrabari-Mawa-Bhanga route is being opened to traffic today. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally inaugurate the newly- constructed expressway through a videoconference from Ganabhaban. 

The 55-km long expressway having all the modern facilities was constructed aiming to reduce travel time as well as to ensure smooth and comfortable journey of the people of 22 southwestern districts with the capital. 

According to the project details, the expressway has five flyovers, 19 underpasses as well as some 100 bridges and culverts, which will contribute to the national economy by boosting trade and commerce in the country.

It has two parts stretching 35-kilometre long from Jatrabari intersection to Mawa and 20-kilometre long from Pancchar to Bhanga. Expressway is a highway especially planned for high-speed traffic, usually having no or fewer number of intersections, limited points of access or exit, and a divider between lanes for traffic moving in opposite directions. 

The world standard expressway is expected to contribute significantly to the overall development of the entire Khulna and Barishal divisions and a part  of Dhaka division as it will strengthen connectivity between the Dhaka city and the country's Southwestern part, officials said.

People from 22 districts of the country's southwestern region including six districts in Barishal division, 10 districts in Khulna division and six districts in Dhaka division will directly be benefited from this expressway. The two parts of the modern expressway will be connected through the 6.15- kilometer long Padma Bridge, which is now under construction.

The expressway has been constructed on Dhaka-Khulna highway with an estimated cost of Tk 11003.90 crore taking the growing traffic volume into consideration for the next 20 years on this highway. Under the project, Bangladesh Army is upgrading the 55km-long Dhaka-Khulna Highway to four-lane. 

Now the expressway is going to be opened for traffic on the eve of the Mujib Borsha (Mujib Year) celebration which will begin on March 17, marking the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The original Dhaka-Mawa four-lane project work kicked off in 2016 on target to finish it by June 2020.

Initially, the project was taken to convert the two-lane Dhaka-Mawa road into four lanes to support increased traffic after the Padma Bridge is opened. The scheme was completed three months before the stipulated time frame of June 2020.

But it was later upgraded into an expressway project to ensure uninterrupted traffic movement that hiked up the project cost to Tk 103.64 billion. The cost of the main four-lane work was Tk 62.52 billion.

Furthermore, Tk 41.11 billion was earmarked for another project under the name 'Completion of incomplete work to upgrade Jatrabari to Mawa and Pancchor-Bhanga road through Ekuria-Babubazar link road under Dhaka-Khulna (N-8) highway into four lanes'.