The feasibility study on the mega project to construct a 136-km-long expressway from Chattogram to Cox's Bazar under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is expected to be completed by December this year.
Sources in the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) said the work of the feasibility study, after a coronavirus-induced delay, is now going on in full swing.
A team of experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) has been conducting the study that started in September 2019.
The study was scheduled to be completed by August this year but its completion was later deferred by four months - up to December this year.
Sources said the feasibility study on the project was stalled in April last year due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and resumed in November last year.
A part of Dhaka-Ctg-Teknaf Highway, the expressway will start from the 1.4-km southern end of Shah Amanat Bridge and will end at Cox's Bazar.
The expressway is imperative from the perspective of tourism as it will connect the most popular tourist sites with the rest of the country.
Also a component of the Asian Highway (AH-41), the expressway will connect Cox's Bazar, the country's busiest tourist destination and future "Energy Hub".
It will pass through several markets and developed areas of Chattorgram and Cox's Bazar districts.
The proposed project would immensely contribute to the economic growth of the country and facilitate regional connectivity.
The road where the expressway will be built is currently a two-lane road and it will be upgraded to a four-lane one along with two service lanes on both sides.
After completion of the study, the Bangladesh PPP authorities will restart the negotiation with the foreign partners next year.
It is expected that the construction work of the project would begin next year, sources said.
RHD had formulated a Development Project Proposal (DPP) for upgradation of the Chattogram- Cox's Bazar highway to a four-lane one and the DPP was submitted to the ECNEC for approval in 2018.
But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed the authorities concerned to take a project for the construction of an expressway from Chattogram to Cox's Bazar instead of a four-lane road.
Accordingly, the Prime Minister's Office has initiated steps to implement it under PPP and has been conducting a feasibility study by an expert team of BUET.
However, after completion of the study, the decision will be taken whether the expressway will be constructed as elevated or on plain land.
