Dhaka's First Elevated Expressway Ready to Inaugurate

The long-anticipated Dhaka Elevated Expressway is scheduled to be inaugurated today partially by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. 

The first high-speed expressway is being launched to ensure north-south traffic in Dhaka which is expected to ease the city’s chronic traffic congestion. There are designated areas for vehicles to fly over the flyover. Vehicles cannot be stopped anywhere on this four-lane expressway except at the toll plaza.

The government is all set to open the Airport-Farmgate section of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway for traffic starting Saturday as the workers are carrying out last-minute work on the megastructure.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will open the 11.5km airport-Farmgate section of the 19.73km expressway, the first one in the country, in the afternoon. Sheikh Hasina will unveil the inaugural plaque and participate in prayers at the old trade fair ground in Agargaon today at four o'clock in the afternoon. After that, the meeting will be held there.

Traffic will be allowed on the 11km stretch of the expressway a day after the inauguration.

The length of this expressway is 19.73 km. From Kaola near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the railway will pass through Tejgaon, Moghbazar, and Kamalapur and will end at Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway near Jatrabari. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the movement from Kawla to Tejgaon on Saturday. After the inauguration, normal vehicles will be able to ply from six o'clock in the morning on Sunday. The government is aiming to open the remaining part from Tejgaon to Qutubkhali in June of next year.

There are 31 ramps on the entire flyover. The length of the runway including ramps will be 46.73 km. There are 11 toll plazas on the flyover. It has been mentioned in the project proposal that it will take 20 minutes for vehicles to cross the entire road once it is opened. It will take 12 minutes to cross the Kawla to Tejgaon section.