Chattogram’s First Elevated Expressway: 9 Ramps Near Completion, 6 Open to Traffic
Chattogram’s first elevated expressway is finally beginning to deliver its expected benefits. Nearly three years after it was opened to traffic, vehicle movement is becoming faster with the opening of six entry and exit ramps. Construction of the remaining three ramps is nearing completion. Once all nine ramps are operational by December, the expressway is expected to become fully functional, helping ease traffic congestion in the city to some extent. Toll revenue is also expected to increase as vehicle numbers rise.
Officials of the Chattogram Development Authority (CDA), the implementing agency, said the remaining three ramps would be opened by December. They expect vehicle traffic on the expressway to increase further, reducing congestion on the city’s main roads.
The nearly 17-kilometre expressway, stretching from Wasa intersection to Patenga, was built at an initial cost of Tk 4,298 crore to improve traffic movement in the port city, widely known as the commercial capital of Bangladesh. Following two rounds of cost increases, the project cost now stands at Tk 4,314.85 crore.
The government has fully financed the country’s second-largest expressway project, providing Tk 3,700 crore as a grant and Tk 524 crore as a loan. The CDA is required to repay the loan to the government after the stipulated period. Toll revenue from the expressway is being collected to help repay the loan.
However, vehicle traffic has remained far below initial projections because the lack of ramps prevented the expressway from connecting properly with other roads. This limited traffic and raised concerns that the CDA could face difficulties repaying the loan. Officials now expect the opening of additional ramps to increase both vehicle movement and toll revenue.
Initially, the CDA planned to build 15 ramps for entry to and exit from the expressway. Six were later dropped from the project. Plans to build a ramp in the city’s Tigerpass area faced opposition from environmental groups because the CDA intended to cut more than 100 century-old trees. Plans for an entry ramp at Badamtali intersection in Agrabad and an exit ramp at the entrance to Agrabad Access Road were also abandoned.
Although an exit ramp at Tigerpass has been completed, it remains closed because of a land dispute with the railway authorities. The expressway was inaugurated on November 14, 2023, without any ramps. Trial traffic on the main section began in the last week of August 2024. Paid traffic operations officially started on January 1, 2025. At that time, vehicles could enter only from the Patenga end and exit at Lalkhan Bazar. There were no other entry or exit points, and traffic on the expressway remained at just one-tenth of the projected volume.
However, vehicle numbers are now rising rapidly as more ramps open. Two ramps for entry and exit at the port-side Nimtala area have been completed and opened. Vehicles travelling from Patenga can now exit at Nimtala and use the Port Connecting Road to reach Pahartali, Halishahar and the Dhaka–Chattogram Highway. Vehicles from the same area can also enter the expressway through the entry ramp and reach the northern parts of the city via Lalkhan Bazar or Muradpur in much less time.
An exit ramp at Faqirhat, near Gate No. 3 of Chattogram Port, has also opened. This allows vehicles from the northern part of the city to travel through Lalkhan Bazar and Agrabad before exiting at Faqirhat to reach Chattogram Port and the Export Processing Zone (EPZ).
An exit ramp in the Chattogram EPZ area is also operational. Vehicles travelling from the northern part of the city towards the EPZ can now avoid traffic congestion and reach their destinations more easily. Construction of another entry ramp from inside the EPZ is nearly complete. Once opened, it will allow vehicles, particularly heavy goods carriers, to enter the expressway from the EPZ and travel to different parts of the city more easily.
Construction of the exit ramp at the Steel Mill area is also nearing completion. Work on an entry ramp from Agrabad towards Patenga is progressing. The entry ramp from Lalkhan Bazar was opened earlier, while another ramp at GEC intersection has also become operational.
The expressway is now connected through Lalkhan Bazar to the Muradpur Flyover and the Bahaddarhat Flyover. The Bahaddarhat Flyover connects to a six-lane road leading towards the Karnaphuli Bridge, which also has an overpass. This has created a direct elevated route between Shah Amanat International Airport and Patenga and the Karnaphuli Bridge.
The elevated route is also connected to the Karnaphuli Tunnel, the country’s first underwater road tunnel. These connections have made travel across the city easier. CDA Chairman Engineer Belayet Hossain said, “This project, costing around Tk 4,500 crore, could not be made fully operational due to the lack of ramps. We have accelerated ramp construction. Work is now underway on only three remaining ramps. Once these are opened within a short time, the full benefits of the expressway will be realised. Traffic congestion in the city will decrease, and connectivity between the northern part of the city and Patenga will become much easier.”
