Ctg elevated expressway design changed after 5 years

The design of the under-construction elevated expressway – from Lalkhan Bazar to Patenga – in the port city of Chattogram has been changed due to complications in implementation, five years after the project was approved.

At the same time, the estimated project cost has been increased about Tk1,049 crore or 32% to Tk4,299 crore, and the project duration has been extended two years to 2024.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved the major revision of the 16-kilometre expressway, officials said. 

"Before taking up this project, we took the consent of all stakeholders, including the Chattogram Port Authority. We even acquired 30-feet width of land alongside the road from the port authorities. The construction of the expressway, however, faced an interruption near the port area as the construction work was said to be hampering traffic to the seaport," said Kazi Hasan Bin Shams, chief engineer of Chattogram Development Authority – the implementing agency of the expressway. 

The major change is that the expressway will now have 15 ramps connecting to other roads instead of the earlier 9, Kazi Hasan Bin Shams told The Business Standard.  

"Efforts are underway to make this flyover accessible from all parts of the city."

On increased cost, he said land compensation was one and a half times the mouza rate at the time of project approval and now it has tripled. 

The chief engineer hopes they will be able to open to traffic the first 10 kilometres of the elevated expressway – from Patenga to Nimtala Highway – by February next, before the opening of the under-construction Karnaphuli Tunnel. 

The elevated expressway project was taken up in 2017 to ease traffic congestion in Chattogram city and to ensure the smooth movement of Chattogram Port-bound vehicles.

The initial estimated project cost was Tk3,250 crore and it was supposed to be completed by 2022.  When the work of the project started in 2019, various complications arose such as objections from Chattogram Port authorities, long waiting times for land acquisition, not getting permission from the traffic department, objections about the design of the Lalkhan Bazar section and the lack of alternative roads there. 

Many say the project was undertaken without a proper feasibility study which is why it faced so many complications.