Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway
Upgrading starts next month
The work of upgrading the Joydevpur-Mymensingh Highway to a dual carriageway will start next month.
The 87-kilometre highway will be turned into a dual carriageway by June, 2013, said communications ministry officials after signing of contracts with three firms at the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) yesterday.
The communications ministry took a Tk 902-crore project last year to upgrade the narrow highway that often sees hours of traffic jam.
Accidents are also quite frequent on the motorway. Once it is upgraded, it will reduce travel time and be safer, said the officials.
The government had earlier decided to implement the project with public funds on the premise that private-public partnership (PPP) would take more time to complete the project.
It will be the second national expressway after the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to be upgraded to dual carriageway. The work for upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong highway is already underway.
The task of upgrading the Joydevpur-Mymensingh highway will be done in four phases. Thirteen kilometres of the highway from Joydevpur to Rajendrapur will be upgraded for Tk 126.22 crore in the first phase, 17 kilometres from Rajendrapur to Mawna for Tk 203.47 crore in the second phase, 30 kilometres from Mawna to Raimoni for Tk 283.89 crore in the third phase and 27 kilometres from Raimoni to Mymensingh for Tk 266.25 crore in the final phase.
Three firms have been selected for the work.
The RHD also signed a Tk 25-crore contract with US-Bangladesh joint venture firm Lewis Berger Group and BCL for consultation on the project.
Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain said the government plans to upgrade the country’s crucial but narrow highways into dual carriageways considering the rise in number of vehicles and road accidents.
He warned the firms that if they fail to complete the project in time, their performance guarantee money will be forfeited.
According to a survey of the RHD in 2006, the average daily traffic on the road is about 30,000. The RHD officials however say the number is much higher now.
“The single carriageway is unable to take the load of an increasing traffic,” the minister said.
