The Dhaka Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Company has decided to partially open a flyover between Tongi Station Road and the Housebuilding area to mixed traffic next week.
“A part of the BRT flyover will open next week. It is a 2.2km stretch between Tongi Station Road and Housebuilding,” said Shafiqul Islam, managing director of Dhaka BRT Company.
The full length of the flyover is 4.5km.
“Only two Dhaka-bound lanes, out of 8 lanes across the Turag River, will open for mixed traffic movement,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Ahead of the partial opening, delegations from Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) visited the flyover on Monday afternoon.
After inspecting the flyover, they suggested some precautions to ensure security and road safety.
GMP Deputy Commissioner (Traffic) Alamgir Hossain said their observations and suggestions considered how vehicles would move on the upper part of the flyover, the guardrails, need for caution at the turns, and some other issues.
“They (the contractor) need some time for implementing suggestions. After that, we will monitor the traffic for a few more days before it is officially opened,” he added.
“If it is opened, the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway’s Dhaka-bound lane will see less traffic congestion. People will be able to travel comfortably,” the GMP deputy commissioner said.
“All suggestions from the police are being incorporated; it will take a maximum of seven days,” said Dhaka BRT Company MD Shafiqul Islam.
“Hopefully, if everything goes well, it will be possible to open the flyover from Station Road in Gazipur to Abdullahpur for vehicular traffic within a week. That section will be opened for all types of vehicles,” he added.
The construction work of the BRT project began in November 2012 and was expected to be completed by December 2016 at a cost of Tk2,037.9 crore. However, the project was delayed several times due to difficulties over site acquisition and relocation of utility services, inadequate drainage, a shortage of contractor funding, and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest deadline has been set for December. The project cost has so far risen to Tk4,268.3 crore.
Deadline extension requested again
Shafiqul Islam said around 80% of the construction work has already been completed, but it will take over a year to finish the remaining work.
“We have sent a proposal to the authority concerned to extend the deadline of the project until December 2023 to complete the last 20% of it,” he added.
He added that the BRT service is expected to be launched by June.
According to BRT sources, project cost would rise by Tk268.13 crore to Tk4,536.46 crore if the deadline extension was granted.
The BRT project faced significant criticism over a lack of safety measures during construction after a crane accident claimed five lives in Uttara on August 15. A government probe blamed the Chinese contractor and construction was suspended following the accident.
