Traffic congestion feared on Airport Road from tomorrow due to underground metro construction

The Airport Road in the capital is expected to see increased traffic congestion from tomorrow (29 January) due to construction works of the country's first underground metro rail in the area.

Metro rail authorities are set to move utility lines from the airport to Khilkhet area to facilitate the construction of the Mass Rapid Transit Line-1 (MRT Line-1), which might result in traffic congestion on the road, the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd (DMTCL) said in a circular today (28 January).

"The transfer of utility lines will start from 10:00pm on Monday in the area of the proposed Underground Metrorail MRT Line-1 project at Airport, Airport Terminal-3 and Khilkhet stations," the circular said.

DMTCL requested commuters to plan their journey accordingly.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the construction work of the country's first-ever underground metro rail on 2 February 2023.

The government initially planned to construct the MRT Line-1, having both underground and elevated facilities, from Airport to Kamalapur and Purbachal to Natun Bazar with an estimated cost of Tk52,561.43 crore by 2026.

However, the project was facing a cost overrun of around Tk2,316 crore or 4.41%, owing to a hefty hike in land acquisition costs, The Business Standard reported in April 2023.

The country's first underground metro rail line – from Airport to Kamalapur with an elevated line from Natun Bazar to Purbachal – will require an additional 39.17 acres of land, leading to a 98% rise in the land acquisition cost from the initial estimate, according to the report.

The increased cost estimation was discussed in the second meeting of the Project Implementation Committee held with the Managing Director of the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited MAN Siddique in the chair, according to the minutes of the meeting disclosed on 22 March 2023.