Dhaka Elevated Expressway will open to traffic from June 2020, says Quader

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway will open to the public from June 2020, the road transport and bridges minister has said.

Work on the project stalled due to complications in the fundraising for the construction.

“You know this project was almost dead. It has been revived,” Obaidul Quader told reporters on Wednesday at the starting point of the project in Kawla.

"There was some fund crisis midway through the project. The Exim Bank of China approved 861 million dollar in January. They and ICBC have also provided another $400 million. Now there is no fund shortage. All the money will come by March."

The 46.73 kilometres Dhaka Elevated Expressway being constructed at a cost of Tk 89.4 billion is to link the Shahjalal International Airport and the Dhaka-Chattroram Highway, thus extending the road connection to Chattogram’s Kutubkhali via Kuril, Banani, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Moghbazar, Kamalapur, Sayedabad, and Jatrabari in the capital.

The project has been split in three parts. The first section extends from the airport to Banani and covers 7.45 kilometres, the second from Banani to Moghbazar is 5.85 kilometres and the third section extends for 6.43 kilometres from Moghbazar to Kutubkhali.

Describing the progress of the work of the elevated expressway, the minister said, "The construction work of the first phase will be completed before June. The second phase will be done by July 2020. The third phase will end in September 2021.”

The first phase makes up 50 percent of the total construction work, and construction has progressed 20 percent of the total work, he said.

“The people will get the benefit of the elevated expressway once the construction of the second part is complete,” he said.