Long-awaited Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover opens in Dhaka

After six years of construction, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the last section of the Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover in Dhaka.

It was a difficult period for residents of the capital who had to face heavy congestion due to the construction project.

Hasina inaugurated the new road via a videoconference at the Ganabhaban at 12pm on Thursday. She was accompanied by Local Government Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain. Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, Dhaka South Mayor Sayeed Khokon, Dhaka North City Corporation Panel Mayor Md Osman Ghani, Awami League activists, and project officials were present on stage at an event in the Mouchak area during the prime minister’s inauguration of the flyover.

The new road system will reduce congestion and commuter uncertainty, Hasina said.

The flyover, decorated with multi-coloured flags and red and green cloth, opened to commuters around 1pm.

Construction on the Mouchak-Moghbazar flyover began in 2011, with a completion date set for December 2013. Though the cost of the project was initially estimated at Tk 7.72 billion, it grew steadily to Tk 11.35 billion.

The 8.7km flyover has loops and onramps connecting several important Dhaka thoroughfares -- Tejgaon Satrasta, Sonargaon Hotel, Moghbazar, Ramna, Bangla Motor, Malibagh, Rajarbagh Police Lines and Shantinagar.

In addition to delaying commuters, construction on the road has also harmed freight delivery and businesses in the Moghbazar, Mouchak and Shantinagar areas of the capital.

Several traders and businesses have even moved due to the regular traffic congestion.

On Mar 13 of this year, the cable of a crane working on the flyover snapped, dropping girders on passersby, killing one and injuring two more.

Seven roads, alongside the Bangla Motor and Holy Family sections of the 8.7km-long flyover had previously been opened to the public.

“Only we know what we have had to suffer in the past few years,” Shahidabagh resident Ekram Hossain told bdnews24.com on Wednesday.  “We have wasted so much time stuck in traffic. It should not have taken this long to construct this flyover.”

Soon after work on the project kicked off in January 2011, media reports emerged pointing out major flaws in the project. The project's foreign engineers designed the roads for left-wheel driving and left out right turns, experts had said.

There were also concerns about the design of its ramps.

Md Belal Hossain, a trader at Anarkoli Supermarket of Mouchak, said, "The street was wide beforehand. Now if a car breaks down, the entire street will be blocked."

He urged the authorities to divert the buses and private cars to the flyover to avoid such situations.

"The traffic congestions will never go away if vehicles other than rickshaws and auto-rickshaws are allowed on the streets under the flyover," he said.

Belal also said the businesses in the area suffered most because of the construction of the flyover.

"We used to sell goods worth Tk 10,000 daily, now the sales do not exceed Tk 2,000. Who would come through such traffic congestions?" he asked.

The flyover construction was completed in three phases. The first section ran from Satrasta-Moghbazar-Holy Family Hospital, the second through Shantinagar-Malibagh-Rajarbagh and the final section from Bangla Motor-Moghbazar-Mouchak.

The first section was opened to traffic by the prime minister on Mar 30, 2016.

The flyover’s Eskaton-Mouchak section was opened to traffic by Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Sept 15. 2016.

The ramp from the flyover to the Sonargaon Hotel area was opened to the public on May 17, 2016.

Authorities had previously announced that roads in the Mouchak area would be closed for an hour or so for the event.

India-Bangladesh joint venture Simplex Navana Joyti, China’s Metallurgical Construction Overseas Company and Toma Constructions implemented the project.