Overpass issue settled, will key Ctg road work move on now?

The height of the Bayezid link road overpass on top of the rail lines will be 7.5metres. Such was the recent instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, ending a tug of war between the road construction agency and Bangladesh Railway for around the last two years.

Now the construction agency, Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), says it will construct the overpass within the next two months, and be able to complete the construction of the high-stake six-kilometre bypass road by June 2023.

But still there are at least half a dozen issues, such as environment department approval, payment of Tk10 crore fine for razing hills and initiative for levying tolls, which remain to be settled, casting a shadow over the road opening and purpose of the first bypass road of Chattogram.

The road will enable vehicles coming from Dhaka to go to Rangamati-Rauzan-Kaptai and Rangunia without entering Chattogram city. It will also channel out Dhaka-bound vehicular flow to the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, bypassing the metropolis.

To ease the pressure of traffic in Chattogram city, the four-lane road project was taken up in 2013 at a cost of around Tk172 crore, the deadline for its completion being 2015. 

The Chattogram Development Authority could not complete the construction even after extending the project deadline five times. In August this year, both the cost and time for the six-kilometre road was extended further.

"More than 90% of the work has been completed," Asad Bin Anwar, the link road project director, told The Business Standard, adding, "Now only the overpass on the rail lines, hill protection wall and road lighting are left to be done. Our focus now is to finish it quickly."  

The project site includes hilly terrain and a rail route. The western end of the road starts from Faujdarhat, while the eastern one ends at Shershah area under Bayezid police station. 

According to the Chattogram Development Authority, a two-lane bypass road project from Faujdarhat to Bayezid was taken up in 1997. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) also approved it in 1999 at Tk33.81 crore. 

In 2004, 55 acres of land were acquired for the project. As work subsequently started at Faujdarhat point, a land acquisition dispute with local Asian Women University surfaced, resulting in an eventual shelving of the project.          

In 2013, the four-lane bypass road work at Tk172.48 crore was taken up. After missing the deadline multiple times and cost escalating to Tk353 crore, the road was unofficially opened to traffic in 2020, with the railway overpass incomplete.

In the meantime, the road construction came into dispute with the environment department. The Chattogram Development Authority was given approval to raze 2.5 lakh square feet of hills, but it actually demolished 10.30 lakh square feet. The violation was met with a fine of Tk10 crore and a case was lodged against the contractor. Besides, environmental certification for the construction expired in 2020.

The renewal of the approval, payment of the fine and settlement of the case are still in limbo. In the 2021 monsoon, the road was declared off-limits to traffic for around a week because of the threat of landslides.

Hillol Biswas, director of the environment department at Chattogram metropolitan office, said, "The CDA appealed for a waiver of the fine. The appeal is currently pending with the ministry. It was asked to submit expert opinions about the safety of the road. It hasn't submitted it yet."

In the latest development in August, the Chattogram Development Authority decided to levy tolls on the road to cope with the cost overrun, which the experts said would discourage traffic from taking the bypass.   

KaziHasan Bin Shams, chief engineer of the Chattogram Development Authority, said the CDA cannot afford to bear the additional cost of the project. As such, there is no way out except through collecting tolls. 

"The entire project is flawed. The people will have to pay for it," Engineer SubhashBarua, a transport expert and vice-president of the Planned Chattogram Forum, told The Business Standard.

The bypass road meets the Dhaka-Chattogram highway at Bangla Bazar of Faujdarhat. The junction has the Outer Ring Road converging on the highway just on the other side. The two roads meeting the highway at the same point squeeze the highway traffic, causing frequent congestion.

Vehicles from Bayezid link road need to go back about 300 metres on the highway to take a U-turn. Drivers often go in the opposite direction to save time, but end up in road mishaps.

KaziHasan Bin Shams said the authorities wanted to build a U-loop at the Faujdarhat point on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, but the Roads and Highways Division opposed it.

Chattogram Roads and Highways Division Executive Engineer PintuChakma told The Business Standard that U-loop or overpasses are costly and time-consuming, adding that immediate solutions to traffic congestion and U-turns are under process.