Inaugurated three months ago, yet to open to public

Agitation is mounting among the port city's commuters as Chattogram Elevated Expressway has yet to open to traffic since its inauguration last year.

The long-awaited expressway, inaugurated on November 14 last year, was partially opened to the public for a few hours on that day.

However, it is yet to be operational as the construction works for this substitute route are yet to be completed.

"Instead of easing commutes, it's causing more trouble as the work often leads to traffic congestion for hours. The inauguration gave us hope. However, three months down the line, we are yet to be free from misery," said Salah Uddin, a shipping company official and regular commuter on the Cement Crossing-Agrabad route.

Md Delwar Hossain Mazumdar, executive member of Forum for Planned Chattogram, echoed him.

While visiting the expressway's Lalkhan Bazar point, this correspondent found workers tying rods on girders to cast slabs.

Mentionable, the expressway will connect to an existing flyover at this point.

"It will take several more months to complete the construction of this expressway," said a site engineer, preferring anonymity.

According to project director Mahfuzur Rahman, executive engineer of Chattogram Development Authority, land acquisition delay has hit their work speed.

"However, now we are speeding up the work. Hopefully, the expressway will be partially opened to the public within two months," he added.

Earlier, a land dispute emerged between the CDA, Chattogram Port Authority, and Railways in this regard. Later, CDA was forced to change the expressway's original design to mitigate the dispute.

CDA PROPOSES TOLL RATE

The CDA plans to allow two and three-wheelers on the expressway.

They have proposed a toll of Tk 10-15 for motorbikes, Tk 20-30 for three-wheelers, Tk 50-80 for private cars, Tk 70-100 for SUVs and microbuses, Tk 130-150 for pick-up vans, Tk 180-280 for minibuses and buses, Tk 180-300 for trucks, and Tk 450 for covered vans or trailers.

"The proposal has already been sent to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works. But the rate is yet to be fixed," said Kazi Hasan Bin Shams, chief engineer of CDA.

Notable, CDA proposed the 16.5-meter-wide, four-lane expressway, citing its impact on smoothing communication across Chattogram's main thoroughfare.

The project, with a budget of Tk 3,250 crore, was approved by Ecnec in July 2017.

While the project was scheduled to be completed by June 2020, the authorities were compelled to extend the deadline as CDA failed to complete the work.

Following two extensions, the project's current budget stands at Tk 4,298.95 crore, with the new deadline for completion being June 2024.