Dhaka Elevated Expressway: A blessing for cars, a curse for commuters

In the Global South, urban development often involves an intense conflict between organic, density-driven demand and capital-intensive infrastructure projects that impose pressure on people and resources. 

In Dhaka—a megacity with core densities exceeding 40,000 inhabitants per square kilometer—this struggle has manifested in a critical planning deviance: the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) which functions as a "malignant" growth within the city's transport anatomy. It uses a lot of resources, is unfair, and eats away at the "healthy tissues" of public transit, including the national railway network and the few green places in the city.

Dhaka's urban layout creates a number of constraints; the area accessible for road networks is historically very low, making up less than 7% of the city's landmass. The quintessential parameter for transport planning for the city is how efficiently the road space is utilised. In theory, the only viable choices are Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems. But the DEE uses the city's most precious asset, its vertical rights-of-way, for the least efficient mode of transport: the private car.

Strategic deviation

The 2005 Strategic Transport Plan (STP) served as the foundational roadmap for Dhaka's transport modernisation. The STP, prepared by international experts, explicitly stated that "to satisfy demand using road-based systems would not be sufficient". The plan suggested a structure that put mass transportation first. It was particularly named the North-South corridor for Metro Line 4 and BRT Line 3.

Despite these recommendations, the implementation phase prioritised the DEE, a project that caters to the elite 5% of the population. While the STP did include an expressway in its "Modified Strategy 2b," it intended for the expressway to coexist with, not cannibalise, the rail corridor. The implemented DEE, however, placed piers directly within the railway right-of-way, effectively blocking the planned expansion of the rail network. This change of focus from "moving people" or accessibility to "moving vehicles" or mobility led to "transport apartheid," where the rich travel on raised decks while the rest of us deal with terrible traffic below.

Conflict with rail alignment

The most technically damaging fact about the DEE is how it relies on the Bangladesh Railway (BR) for land. The alignment has taken over the railway's right-of-way, making it nearly impossible for the corridor to expand. The Dhaka-Tongi-Joydebpur railway corridor is very important for linking the city with the rest of the country. 

So, obviously BR started the 3rd and 4th Dual Gauge Line Project. But building DEE piers on railway land has made it extremely difficult to get through. In places like Mohakhali and Tejgaon, highway pillars make it hard to install the extra tracks without acquiring a lot of property. The disagreement has also put the train project on hold, moving the completion date from 2015 to after 2027. Also, the expressway has virtually killed any opportunity of vertical expansion for the railway which is a common prerequisite for urban rail. 

Operational performance and traffic dynamics

The economic engine of the DEE is fueled by induced demand. Operational data from 2023–2025 reveals that 98.3% of vehicles using the expressway are private cars. Buses are pretty much non-existent due to the lack of intermediate stops on the elevated deck. This confirms that the infrastructure serves almost exclusively the private vehicle-owning class, encouraging further motorisation in a city already choked by traffic.

Instead of alleviating congestion, the DEE moves it about. Vehicles exiting at high speeds are dumped into saturated intersections at Farmgate and Mohakhali, creating "shockwaves" of gridlock. Studies on the MRT corridor in Dhaka suggest that while travel speeds on the newly built infrastructures may be high at first but the benefits are "gradually saturated by the induced travel demand."

The freight fallacy and economic viability

A primary justification for the DEE was facilitating freight movement. This premise has largely collapsed due to high toll costs and regulatory barriers. Most of the time, Bangladeshi logistics companies work with very small profits. The hefty tolls (Tk320–400) keep trucks from using the road, therefore they wait for the night window. Also, the project's finances are shaky, as shown by the fact that construction on the Malibagh-Kutubkhali stretch was put on hold for 18 months in June 2025 because of disagreements between Italian-Thai Development (ITD) and Chinese contractors, which caused China Exim Bank to stop funding the project.

The destruction of public space

The construction of the DEE led to the destruction of Dhaka's limited ecological resources, which goes against the constitution's requirements for protecting the environment. To make room for ramps, some 2,000 trees were cut down at Panthakunja Park. This went against a 2014 High Court order that said the park should be an open place. Moreover, more than 40 columns were put into the Hatirjheel waterbody, which changed waterflow and nature of the lake. 

Comparative case study: The Jakarta pivot

Comparing Dhaka's strategy to Jakarta's shows that it doesn't work. Like Dhaka, Jakarta was under pressure to build "6 Inner City Toll Roads." However, because of political willingness and leadership shifts, the city pivoted towards Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and multimodal integration.

Jakarta's Jak Lingko system integrates micro-buses, BRT, and MRT into a seamless network. In contrast, Dhaka's DEE operates as an isolated scheme, competing with rather than complementing public transit. It has been observed by research that commuters are significantly more sensitive to wait times than travel times; Jakarta's integrated network solved this by making transfers more efficient. Dhaka's lack of integration forces mode shifts makes overall travel harder for the masses.

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway is an example of putting political agenda over planning rationale. It has stopped the rail network from growing when it needs to, creating an environment where car usage becomes inevitable, while gobbling up natural resources.  The project's "malignancy" is that it will permanently take away the city's strategic rights-of-way for the benefit of a small group of people. Dhaka needs to halt any more expressway projects right away, make expanding the railway a top priority (even if it means changing the design of the expressway), and hold people accountable for environmental damage according to the constitution. 

Dhrubo Alam is a Deputy Transport Planner at the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA). He is also serving as the Project Director for the "Preparation of Concept Design and Implementation Plan for Bus Route Rationalization and Company-Based Operation of Bus Services in Dhaka."

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.