Thanks to Bangladesh's fast developing road infrastructure, Eid holidaymakers can expect a better experience than usual on their way to their village homes this year.
Road expansion work and the building of bridges on many national highways have improved capital Dhaka's road connectivity with the country's southern districts significantly in recent years. Following the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, the highway connecting Dhaka to Sylhet is also undergoing a much-needed expansion work.
Although homebound journeys are expected to be smooth, holidaymakers may face some delays due to toll booths at the Padma Bridge, Bangabandhu Bridge, Meghna-Gomoti Bridge, as well as traffic bottlenecks in some parts of Gazipur, Munshiganj, Narsindhi and Naryanganaj. Homebound people may face traffic gridlocks in at least 46 spots during the Eid holidays.
Traffic hotspots
Among these 46 spots, 20 are on routes into and out of Dhaka. Besides, four are on the Dhaka-Aricha highway, four on the Dhaka-Gazipur-Mymensingh highway, seven on the Dhaka-Gazipur-Tangail-Bogra highway, four on the Chittagong and Sylhet route, two in Narsingdi district, and five on the Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Madaripur and Faridpur route, according to a high-level meeting in Sunday with the presence of Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and other stakeholders of transport sectors.
At the meeting, Obaidul Quader focused on maintaining discipline on the roads and said: “Our biggest shortcoming is discipline. It was not effective on roads, nor was it in transport. There are plans to make six lanes or eight lanes in many more places. But how to enforce discipline is the biggest challenge. Discipline will reduce traffic congestion and accidents.”
Amid the demands from bikers, motorcycles will be allowed to run on all expressways and highways of the country during the Eid journey, including on the Padma Bridge.
Mobile courts to maintain order
However, the Road Transport and Highways Department has decided to operate mobile courts and deploy law and order forces to control traffic congestion at 46 spots across the country to make a smooth Eid journey.
The Road Transport and Highways Department has issued instructions on increasing the number of toll-collecting booths at the toll plazas of these bridges, and on keeping all the booths open round the clock to ease Eid journeys. However, a failure to install automatic toll collection systems at major bridges means significant delays are still expected.
North-bound vehicles will face more traffic this time due to traffic congestion on the Airport-Tongi-Gazipur and Airport-Ashulia routes.
Obaidul Quader has also expressed concern that ongoing delays in the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) may create challenges.
In addition, passengers who are planning to go to the northern region of the country through Gabtoli may face traffic jams in Savar, Nabinagar, Baipail and Chandra areas.
Due to the construction works on Bogra roads from Tangail's Elenga to Sirajganj, and Elenga to Bogura, passengers may be up against slow traffic movement.