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Download PDF The government is seriously considering construction of 56 new roads and introduction of a rapid transit system in the capital by 2024 for quick modernisation of Dhaka’s current shabby transport system, according to Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB).
The initiative is a part of a massive Strategic Transport Plan (STP) to modernise Dhaka’s transport system, for which the government is planning to spend at least 5.5 billion US dollars by 2024 in implementing a number of development schemes.
STP will be implemented in four five-year phases. In the first phase which will end in 2010, the authorities will complete the designs and construction of six new major roads to create the much needed east-west connections in the city.
Between 2010 and 2024, the government plans to construct 50 additional roads as a part of a city highway network to meet the needs of the commuters of Dhaka and its nearby towns — Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Tongi, the number of whom has been estimated to reach 36 million by 2024.
At the same time the government plans to construct a city subway train system and elevated expressways. But these capital-intensive schemes will get lesser priority.
Although STP was designed as a 20-year plan in 2004, the basic documents of the plan was only finalised late last year. The plan now aims at achieving the 20-year goal within the next 17 years, DTCB sources said.
A high-powered 12-member committee headed by Communications Adviser Maj Gen (retd) MA Matin is currently reviewing STP.
Dhaka is a mega city lacking an organised, properly scheduled bus system or any type of mass rapid transport system. Only seven percent of the city’s land is used for roads while any modern city requires 25 percent of its land to be used for the purpose.
STP’s estimated cost is $5.5 billion without taking into account the cost of acquiring land and other properties.
The six projects that are slated to be completed by 2010 comprise construction of roads between Zia Colony and Mirpur, and between Panthapath and Rampura, construction of a tunnel at Tejgaon Airport, and roads between Merul Badda and Golakandial, between Tongi and Ghorashal, and between Malibagh and Janapath; and implementation of Lines 1 and 2 of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.
BRT
The proposed BRT system, which will be the first of its kind in the country, has been identified as a practical solution to the chronic traffic congestion in Dhaka city. Express buses, which will have capacities to carry 200 passengers per vehicle with low consumption of fuel and high speed, are already very popular in South American countries.
Dr KM Maniruzzaman, associate professor of the urban and regional planning department of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), said in Bogotá, BRT has become so popular that the city’s commuters are insisting on banning personal automobiles on roads during rush hours.
The Bangladesh government will dedicate some lanes on roads for uninterrupted movement of BRT and it is considering dedicating three lanes for the purpose. BRT line 1 will begin at Uttara and end at Saidabad Bus Terminal, Line 2 will start from Gabtoli Bus Terminal and end at Saidabad Bus Terminal, and Line 3 will connect Zia Internatioal Airport and the Ramna area.
BRT will go through College Road, Phoenix Road and Nazrul Islam Sarani in an anti-clockwise loop, which might be extended to the old part of the city also.
Sensing that BRT might not be able to accommodate 36 million people by 2024, the government is also reviewing an option of establishing a metro train system.
METRO TRAINS
The first of the proposed three metro lines will begin at Uttara and end at Saidabad Bus Terminal, the second one will provide two east-west connections among densely populated residential areas of Gulshan, Dhanmondi and Mirpur, and the third one will connect the developing areas west of the cantonment and the central city, which will start at Pallabi and end at Saidabad Bus Terminal.
According to the plan, the metro lines will be completed in the fourth and the final five-year phases.
“The blend of BRT and metro, which was termed as a mass rapid transit system by the experts in the field, will create enormous opportunities for new developments and the junctions have been considered as viable sites for major new commercial developments”, Director of Bangladesh Consultants Ltd Rafiqul Islam told The Daily Star.
ELEVATED EXPRESSWAYS
The proposed three elevated expressways will include the Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover. The two others, to be constructed in the second five-year phase of STP, will run from Mogbazar via Mouchak to Rampura, and from Gulistan to Mahakhali.
During the immediate past four-party alliance government’s regime, the erstwhile communications minister Nazmul Huda was tilted towards investment intensive elevated expressway projects, with an estimated $614 million expenditure.
According to sources, the expert committee however put high emphasis on setting up a mass rapid transit system saying that toll based elevated expressways will not be viable even in 20 years.
“Construction of the elevated expressways demands a staggering budget of Tk 100 crore per 1 km. Those would be operated on the basis of collecting tolls from vehicle drivers,” said Dr Rahmatullah, a transport expert and project director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue.
The alliance government had the tendency to award large-scale construction projects to particular companies, like the notorious Orion, in exchange for huge amounts of bribes. Sources said the nefarious practice affected all development work in the country in the last five years.
In order to obtain the resources to make STP successful, the expert committee asked the government to increase the budget allocation for the transport system in Dhaka area, to increase the number of applications for funds from donors, to aggressively pursue private sector funding sources, and to introduce a special levy in the form of a government surcharge for collecting fund.
Dr Salehuddin, additional executive director of DTCB, said the recommended expressways should be built to coordinate the total transport system. He however admitted that they did not think through the issue of financial viability of constructing the expressways.
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