While the mega project to upgrade the 209 km Dhaka-Sylhet highway into a 6-lane expressway is progressing, severe traffic congestion looms over the entrance to Sylhet city. The final 10-km stretch from Lalabazar to the Kadamtoli Bus Terminal remains just two lanes, raising concerns among transport operators that the benefits of the expressway could be severely bottlenecked.
To address this impending crisis, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Sylhet has submitted an BDT 800 crore project proposal to expand 24 kilometers of connecting regional roads into four lanes.
According to transport workers and commuters, navigating the existing 10-km two-lane bottleneck from Lalabazar to the city's main bus terminal currently takes as long as 2 to 3 hours during peak hours. Once the 6-lane highway opens to full capacity, the sudden influx of high-speed traffic into this narrow stretch could paralyze the city's entry point.
Hazi Mainul Islam, President of the Sylhet District Bus-Minibus, Coach-Microbus Workers Union, stated, "Vehicle pressure on this route is rising steadily. Without expanding the entering corridors and internal city links alongside the main highway, commuters will face unbearable gridlocks."
Addressing the issue, Khairul Bashar Mohammad Saddam Hossain, Executive Engineer of Sylhet RHD, confirmed that the new intervention is already in motion. "We have submitted a formal proposal to upgrade 24 kilometers of regional roads to four lanes. Costing approximately BDT 800 crore, the implementation of this project will vastly improve traffic distribution and overall road network capacity at the gateway to Sylhet."
Experts emphasize that while the 6-lane Dhaka-Sylhet highway will revolutionize trade and tourism, synchronizing the city's entering infrastructure with the main expressway is vital to achieving its full potential.
Sylhetview24/RiK/SD
