Chattogram Set for Connectivity Boost as Three Mega Projects Near Completion by December

Three long-delayed infrastructure projects in Chattogram are on track to fully open to traffic in December, in a move expected to improve connectivity, ease congestion and cut travel time and costs across Bangladesh’s premier port city. The 15.2-kilometre Wasim Akram Elevated Expressway, the 8.55-kilometre Kalurghat-Chaktai Road-cum-Embankment, and a modern junction at the mouth of the Karnaphuli Tunnel have reached 95 percent, 93 percent and 95 percent progress respectively, at a combined estimated cost of around Tk7,490 crore.

What does the elevated expressway deliver?

Nearly nine years after construction began, the Wasim Akram Elevated Expressway is nearing completion after repeatedly missing deadlines, with delays attributed to land acquisition problems, ramp construction obstructions, and fund disbursement disruptions during the interim government period. The project missed its December 2025 deadline and has been extended to December 2026.

The expressway is designed to improve connectivity between Chattogram city and south Chattogram, cutting travel time to Chattogram Port, Shah Amanat International Airport and the EPZs. It has already reduced travel time between the city centre and the airport to around 20 minutes from roughly ninety minutes. According to Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) Project Director and Executive Engineer Mahfuzur Rahman, ramps at Nimtala, Fakirhat, CEPZ, Wasa and Tigerpass are almost complete, with work on the remaining ramps at Agrabad and Karnaphuli EPZ under way and expected to finish by November, alongside ten toll booths at three points.

The four-lane, 16.5-metre-wide project was approved by ECNEC in July 2017 at an initial cost of Tk3,250 crore, later revised to around Tk4,300 crore. It currently carries about 10,000 vehicles a day, generating Tk6.5-7 lakh in toll revenue; once fully opened, traffic is projected to rise to around 20,000 vehicles daily with toll revenue of Tk14-15 lakh. The government is estimated to be losing around Tk10 lakh a day in toll revenue due to the incomplete ramps.

What does the Kalurghat-Chaktai road add?

The 8.55-kilometre road-cum-embankment from Kalurghat Bridge to Chaktai Khal has reached 93 percent completion, with roughly 250 metres of work remaining at both ends, including sections in the AK Khan and Noman College areas. Twelve sluice gates and associated pump houses at canal mouths have already been completed. CDA Project Director and Executive Engineer Rajib Das said the project, initiated in 2017, was severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and a two-year disruption in fund disbursement that lasted until June 2025, though the authority is working to connect both ends and open the road by December despite its latest deadline having expired in June.

Once complete, the road will connect the Dhaka-Chattogram and Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highways via the City By-pass Loop Road and Quaish Road, allowing vehicles from Kaptai, Rangunia, Raozan and Boalkhali to bypass the city centre en route to south Chattogram, while also protecting key business areas from chronic waterlogging. Its cost was revised from an initial Tk2,275 crore to Tk2,779 crore.

What problem does the Karnaphuli Tunnel junction solve?

The modern junction at the mouth of the Karnaphuli Tunnel has reached 95 percent completion after several deadline extensions, with the deadline now set for December. The CDA undertook the project in 2023, as an extension of the Chattogram City Outer Ring Road Construction Project, after experts criticised the original traffic management design at the tunnel entrance.

Despite completion of the Karnaphuli Tunnel, the 17-kilometre Outer Ring Road from Faujdarhat to Patenga, and the elevated expressway, congestion at the tunnel entrance had remained a major concern, with traffic from the tunnel, airport road, Old Kathgarh Road, the elevated expressway and the Outer Ring Road converging at a single point, particularly during weekend and holiday traffic to Patenga Sea Beach. Rajib, also the junction project’s deputy director, said work on four spans at the Patenga and Ring Road ends was progressing, with traffic movement through the intersection set to open in December.

The Outer Ring Road project, launched in 2013 with an initial allocation of Tk856 crore, has since been revised to a total cost of Tk3,324 crore, including Tk411 crore for the tunnel junction and the CEPZ connecting road.