The road and transport sector has seen many renovations during the last ten years with the Roads and Highways Department remodelling 4,331 kilometres of highway.
The government has stretched six 5,171 kilometres of the highway, making them spacious for four or more lanes with 417 kilometres of the highway having four lanes or more.
Moreover, the department has already begun work on a service lane for the Ashuganj River Port-Sarail-Dharkhar-Akhaura land port route under the Indian loan program. All the feasibility tests have been completed and detailed blueprints have been drawn up for the project. The tenders have been called and undergoing evaluation.
Meanwhile, work for the very first expressway of the country in the Dhaka-Mawa-Faridpur route is underway in collaboration with Bangladesh Army.
The four-lane fly-over at Dhaka-Sylhet’s Bhulta, a Tk 2.63 billion project is swiftly progressing. The Kumilla-Biswa Road to Laksham and Noakhali’s Sonapur four-lane road is also under development.
A Road, Transport and Bridges Ministry report says that there are approximately 21,302 kilometres of national, regional and district highways, 4,404 kilometres of bridges and 894 culverts under the highways department.
The report says that around 4, 869 kilometres of highway has been carpeted and seal coated. Around 892 kilometres have been given Double Bituminous Surface Treatment (DBST) and 8,158 kilometres were given overall.
According to the report, six highways that have been upgraded to four lanes measure up to 470 kilometres.
The country’s 4-lane economic lifeline, the Dhaka-Chattogram highway measures 190 kilometres The Dhaka-Mymensingh highway was upgraded to four-lane only last year. The Nabinagar-Chandra road has also been upgraded along with many roads in Rangpur city.
Meanwhile, the 80 kilometre Marine Drive from Cox’s Bazar to Teknaf was constructed between 2009 to 2018, which is both pleasing to the eyes and attracts tourists.
In the last ten years, the government made significant progress in road development with upgrading the Jatrabari-Kanchpur highway into an eight-lane road, the first of its kind in Bangladesh. Only last year, the highways department completed 276 projects and started 341 new ones.
Moreover, there are 139 ongoing projects under the Roads and Highways Department in the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Responding to queries on the matter, Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that many risky turns have been straightened at the Dhaka-Aricha highway to avoid accidents.
He added that 130 out of 144 risky turns at highways across the country have been fixed to avoid congestion.
Quader said that the elevated metro rail which will stretch 20.10 kilometres from Uttara Sector-3 to Bangladesh Bank and accommodate 60,000 passengers will be complete by 2023.
The metro rail, with its sixteen stations, is expected to reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka and adjoining areas quite significantly.
The construction of the rail is progressing and the viaducts are already visible and feasibility test at route-1 and route-5 is complete.
The development of the Dhaka-Joydebpur-Tangail-Elenga four-lane route is in full swing with 23 bridges and almost 40 kilometres of road that have already been made accessible to the public.
The work for the rapid transit route from Gazipur cross-roads to the Airport is also underway.
The government has also commissioned several bridges among which the Payra bridge, Shitalakkha Bridge are key.
As many as 17 bridges are under construction under the Cross-border Road Network Improvement Project.
On the other hand, the work for Shah Amanat Bridge on the Chattogram end is almost complete.
The Zaika funded four-lane second Kanchpur Bridge on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway and the second Meghna-Gomati Bridge is near completion.
Around 82 bridges are under construction in the western province, funded by Western Bangladesh Bridge Improvement Project.
Plans are also underway to upgrade the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway into a four-lane road and its DPP has already been prepared.
Obaidul Quader said that initiatives have been taken to construct the Dhaka-Chattogram expressway and upgrade the Sylhet-Jaflong highway into four-lanes.
The minister added that the government has taken initiatives to build a 317-kilometre of border highway at the hill tracts.

Funded by ADB feasibility studies to convert 1,752 kilometres of the highway into four-lane roads are complete.