The long-awaited Purbachal Expressway will connect the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway with the capital. According to Rajuk, the capital development authority, the expressway will be ready to be inaugurated in the next 2-3 months. Billed as one of the most spectacular and attractive expressways in south and eastern Asia, it will connect Dhaka’s Progoti Swaroni and Airport Road to the Eastern Bypass. There will be no traffic signals on the 12.5-km long expressway, which will have upto 14 lanes. According to Rajuk, a 6.5-km stretch of the 12.5-km expressway, from the capital’s Kuril area to the Balu River, is being constructed with 14 lanes. Of these 14 lanes, eight will be part of the main expressway, while the remaining six lanes will be used as service roads for the movement of local vehicles. The 6-km stretch of the expressway from the Balu River to Kanchan Bridge will have 12 lanes - six forming the expressway, six as service roads. At present, 95 percent of the project is complete, said sources at Rajuk. Read More: RAJUK lauches work on deep tube wells for Purbachal New Town project  The cost of construction of the expressway has been estimated at Tk 764 crore. As part of the project, 10 large bridges will be built at an estimated cost of Tk 488 crore. The construction of the expressway from Kuril Bishwa Road to Kanchan Bridge is in the final stages. Currently the construction of drainage systems along the roads and canals is going on. In many places, dividers are being installed. The Bangladesh Army's 24 Engineer Construction Brigade is implementing the project. Meanwhile, Rajuk is currently digging 100-foot-wide canals on both sides of the Kuril-Purbachal Link road with the help of the Army, to preclude waterlogging. Rajuk Chairman Anisur Rahman Miah told UNB recently that most of this work is complete. Also read: Construction underway of iconic Bangabandhu Tri-Tower at Purbachal There will also be 13 arched bridges, like the ones in Hatirjheel, costing an estimated Tk 227 crore. Five at-grade intersections are being constructed so that vehicles in the adjacent areas can use the service lanes to get on the expressway at the same grade or elevation. A subway will be added to the expressway under each intersection, according to Rajuk. Besides, a four-kilometer drainage line for rain water, two culverts and 12 water bus stands will be constructed in the project area. In addition, the number of pedestrian-bridges has been increased from the four mentioned in the original project outline of 2015 to 12, the number of pump houses from one to five, and the number of sluice gates from four to ten. Read More: Iconic Purbachal CBD project launched “The entire project will be completed in a quick time," Anisur Rahman said. "Hopefully, it will be inaugurated within the next three months. Once complete, the road communication between the capital and Purbachal will be modernised. Rajuk and police will work jointly to provide adequate security on the roads.” Regarding the canal reclamation project, Anisur said: “Once there were three major canals - Dumni, Boalia, and AD-8 -that would drain the rainwater out of the Airport, Nikunja, Baridhara and surrounding areas. However, those canals are completely gone.” “We’re hoping to reclaim those canals with this project,” he added. The plan to dig and develop a 100-foot-wide canal on either side of the Kuril-Purbachal link road was approved at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on November 4, 2018. The Rajuk chairman hopes that the canals will help to solve the waterlogging problem in the Kuril, Baridhara, Nikunja and Airport areas during monsoon. Read More: Hasina unveils state-of-the-art exhibition centre in Purbachal The Rajuk chairman said that once all the work is complete, the area would also present 'the nearest tourist spot' to Dhaka. The estimated cost of the Purbachal Expressway project was originally Tk 5,287 crore, back in 2015. The addition of three additional canals, roads, bridges, and other elements described above have added an extra Tk 5,043 crore. The overall cost of the project has thus nearly doubled to Tk 10,330 crore.

Vehicular movement on Airport Road remained suspended for one hour on Monday as protestors blocked the road following the death of a university student in a road crash. Azizul Haque, officer-in-charge of Airport Police Station, said the students of Northern University took to the street around 1:05 pm to press home their four point demand, halting vehicular movement on the road. Earlier on Sunday, Nadia, 24, a 4th year student of the Pharmacy department of Northern University, died when a Victor Paribahan bus hit the motorcycle she was on near Jamuna Future Park in the city. The demands of the students are cancellation of the route permit of Victor Paribahan Classic; to provide compensation to the family members of Nadia; provide adequate evidence of arresting the driver and helper of the killer bus, and construction of a safe bus stoppage in Kawla area. Also Read: Northern University  student killed in road crash A long tailback has been created from Airport to Khilkhet area which spread to Mohakhali, Badda, and Gulshan areas, following the road blockade, OC Haque said. On information, police rushed to the spot and assured the students of meeting their demands. Traffic on the road returned to normal around 2pm. Quoting witnesses, police said Nadia, riding on friend Mehedi’s motorcycle, was going to Narda area at noon. When the motorcycle reached near Jamuna Future Park area, a bus of Victor Paribahan hit the motorcycle at around 12:45 pm. Nadia fell on the street and died on the spot, while her friend Mehedi received minor injuries, said OC of Bhatara police station ABM Asaduzzaman.    

A 32-year-old man was killed on the Airport Road in Dhaka early in the early hours of Wednesday as a truck hit a two-wheeler, police said. The deceased was identified as Tanvir Sajjad Sourav from Gangni upazila of Meherpur. "The incident occurred at around 12:30am as Tanvir was going to Uttara from Mirpur-10 on his friends' motorcycle. When he neared Balaka Bhaban the truck rammed into the two-wheeler," said Sub-Inspector (SI) Jewel Mia of Airport Police Station. Read more: Two dead in Kalabagan road accident The critically injured was first taken to a local hospital and then referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where he was declared dead at around 2:30am, the SI added. The body has been kept at DMCH Hospital morgue for post-mortem, Jewel said.