Govt Opens 7 New Flyovers On Dhaka-Gazipur Route For Eid Travel Ease

The government has opened seven new bridges along the Dhaka-Gazipur road to make it easier for people to travel home for Eid-ul-Fitr. The Road Transport and Bridges Minister, Obaidul Quader, officially started these bridges, which are part of a project called Bus Rapid Transit. He mentioned that these bridges are like a gift for travelers from the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina. Quader also mentioned steps taken to ensure smooth travel during Eid, like stopping trucks and vans during the holidays.

Quader acknowledged that there were delays and some problems during the building of these bridges but said the Bus Rapid Transit project is almost done. He hopes to start bus services along this route by the end of the year. The new bridges opened on Sunday are named Airport Flyover (Left Side), Airport Flyover (Right Side), Jasimuddin Flyover, U-Turn-1 Gazipura Flyover, U-Turn-2 Open University Flyover, Gazipur Bhogra Flyover, and Gazipur Chowrasta Flyover.

Initially, the BRT project was supposed to be finished by December 2016, costing around Tk 20.4 billion. But it took longer and cost more, around Tk 42.68 billion. The route was also shortened from Chandna intersection in Gazipur to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The BRT project aims to reduce traffic on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, allowing 25,000 passengers to travel through 100 buses per hour.

Construction involved three Chinese companies – China Gezhouba Group Corporation, Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Group, and Weihai International Economic and Technical Cooperative – and a local company called Cell-UDC, which built the BRT depot in Gazipur.