New ramp, e-toll expansion planned to ease pressure on Tejgaon toll plaza
Seven lanes already offer OBU-based electronic toll collection, while an RFID-based system is being tested for online payments.
The government is constructing a new northbound ramp from Sonargaon Golchattar to ease traffic pressure at the Tejgaon toll plaza of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, while expanding electronic toll collection to speed up payments, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam said today (9 September).
He made the remarks during the question-and-answer session in parliament in response to a question from Faridpur-4 lawmaker Md Shohidul Islam. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad presided over the session.
The minister said the Kawla-FDC section of the expressway currently has six toll plazas, with relatively heavy traffic at the Airport and Tejgaon plazas.
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The pressure is particularly acute at Tejgaon, he added.
At present, vehicles travelling north towards Banani, Kuril and the airport are required to pass through the Tejgaon toll plaza.
However, the expressway's original design includes a northbound ramp from Sonargaon Golchattar. Construction of the ramp is now underway, the minister said.
Once operational, the ramp is expected to reduce traffic pressure on the Tejgaon toll plaza by allowing northbound vehicles to bypass it.
The government has also launched a feasibility study on connecting the Dhaka Elevated Expressway with the Dhaka-Mawa Expressway, Shaikh Rabiul Alam said.
To speed up toll collection, an electronic toll collection (ETC) system using onboard units (OBUs) has already been introduced.
The OBU-based system is currently available in seven lanes across the Airport, Kuril, Banani-1 and Tejgaon toll plazas. As of 30 August, 1,877 vehicles had registered for the service, he said.
The government is also working to introduce an RFID-based ETC system to enable online toll payments.
The RFID system is currently being tested in one lane at the Banani-1 toll plaza.
Shaikh Rabiul Alam said traffic flow through the expressway's toll plazas would improve once the Sonargaon Golchattar ramp becomes operational and the RFID-based electronic toll system is rolled out.
