Authorities are planning to turn the two-lane Bhanga-Jessore-Benapole road into a six-lane highway, with a budget of Tk11,000 crore.
The Roads and Highways Department had placed a plan to expand the 130km Bhanga-Jessore-Benapole road, however, the project has not yet been approved, said officials.
The department is hopeful the project will soon be approved in Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting.
They said that road design has been completed long ago. It has five flyovers and two separate bypasses in Narail and Jessore.
Currently, work is underway to widen three feet of both sides of the road from Kalna to Jessore.
Ashrafuzzaman, project manager of Kalna Bridge and Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) of Narail, said the work of upgrading the Bhanga-Jesore-Benapole highway is officially underway.
For the time being, the existing road from Kalna to Jessore will be widened by six feet to cope with the pressure. Its work will be completed within one and a half years, he said, adding: “However, the project will take five years once the six-lane upgradation work starts.”
Narail Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Habibur Rahman said that the account of acquisition of 274 acres of land in Narail part of six-lane project has been sent to the respective ministry in 2020.
Why is this road important?
Locals said that they are worried about the upcoming traffic jams after the inauguration of Kalna Bridge, as the vehicles will be moving on an 18ft road.
They mentioned that hundreds of vehicles pass through that narrow and crooked roads, posing risk for the community.
The residents also noted that if the road is improved to six lanes, the communication between the capital Dhaka and the Benapole land port of Kolkata in India will be much easier. This will reduce the distance between the capital and Benapole land port by 86km.
Apart from this, vehicles and goods of 10 districts of Khulna division including Nawapara-Benapole-Bhomra port will be transported by the Kalna Bridge, they added.
Besides, the one lane road from Bhanga to Benapole is 18-24ft wide. The Narail-Jessore section of the road has several dangerous narrow bridges and culverts.
As the road is not wide, people are travelling to different districts of south-west including Benapole port by traveling more than 100km from the capital. With 12 educational institutions in the adjacent areas and narrow and crooked roads, risk of traffic and accidents are quite high, said locals.
Md Enamul Haque, manager of Eagle Paribahan, said: “If all the vehicles travel along this route, the risk of traffic jams and accidents will increase.”
General Secretary of Narail District Bus-Minibus Owners Association Kazi Zahirul Haque said that after the inauguration of Padma Bridge, the vehicle pressure on the Narail road has increased significantly.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is set to inaugurate Bangladesh’s first six-lane Kalna Bridge or “Madhumati Bridge” virtually on Monday.
The bridge will be opened to traffic the same day, said Shyamal Bhattacharya, project director of the Cross Border Road Network Improvement Project of the Roads and Highways Department.