Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday (November 12, 2022) inaugurated the construction work of Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway — aiming to facilitate fast entry and exit of vehicles to and from the capital.

She launched the construction of the Tk 17,553 crore expressway virtually, joining from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Once built, the 24km expressway will connect Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Abdullahpur, Ashulia, Baipail and Dhaka Export Processing Zone on the Nabinagar-Chandra highway.

Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway will allow people from 30 districts to enter and exit the capital fast and easily. It is also expected to boost the country's gross domestic product by 0.21 percent, as per projection.

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The expressway, which is expected to be completed in 2026 — in the Asian Highway Alignment — will be linked to the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.

The aim of the Ashulia Expressway is to reduce traffic congestion on the Abdullahpur-Ashulia-Bypail-Chandra road, connecting 30 districts with Dhaka.

The project will have an 11km ramp. There will be a 14.28km four-lane connecting road on both sides of the flyover.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in 2017 approved the project which was originally scheduled to be completed in June 2022.

Construction of the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway has not progressed in the last five years due to complexity of the loan agreement with China.

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The government and Exim Bank of China signed a $1.1 billion loan agreement for construction of the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway in October 2021.

Though China was initially supposed to bear the entire cost of the project, due to the change in the country's debt policy, it is now providing 85 percent of the total expenditure.

In June this year, the Ecnec meeting approved the amendment proposal of the project with the time extension to June 2026. Now the project cost has increased by Tk652 crore to Tk17,553 crore from Tk 16,901 crore.

Some pre-construction work such as land development and instrument purchase started earlier. Now the project's main construction work will begin with the laying of the foundation stone by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

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The Dhaka Elevated Expressway will run over a 20km stretch from the Dhaka airport to Kutubkhal point on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

The two expressways, a total 44km in length, will save commuters four to five hours usually lost in Dhaka city traffic.