Special Correspondent:

After the removal of the railway track of the Jamuna Bridge, known as the gateway to North Bengal, the Bridge Department has taken the initiative to widen the road at that place.

A plan has been made to convert the part, where the train used to run along the middle of the bridge, into a road. This will increase the space by about 11 feet. Not only that, it will be made suitable for traffic. Those concerned people hope that this will greatly reduce the traffic congestion on the Jamuna Bridge at various times including two Eids. The newly built separate railway bridge over the Jamuna River has already been put into operation as well as the railway tracks on the old bridge has been removed by the authorities concerned. As a result, trains will no longer run on the bridge.

The Bridges Department said that, after the removal of the railway line, they have to do some technical works for converting the additional space into a full-fledged road. This is why there is a need for a budget to expand the bridge. The interim government has also approved the project. Now, the work of preparing the design of the road expansion and determining the possible cost is underway. An expert team has already been appointed for this purpose, sources said.

Chief Engineer of the Bridges Department, Kazi Mohammad Ferdous, said, we hope to be able to start the work within the next six months. However, before that, we will have to get the design and technical opinion from the experts. Only then can the construction work be finally started.

It is worth noting that the new Jamuna Railway Bridge over the Jamuna River was inaugurated in February this year. Since then, train traffic over the old Jamuna Bridge has been completely stopped.

The Jamuna Bridge, which was opened in 1998, was originally built as a road bridge. At that time, there was no provision for a railway line in its design. Later, on the orders of the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, a railway line was laid on one side of the Jamuna Bridge. As a result, the roadway of the bridge narrowed and traffic was disrupted.

When cracks appeared on the bridge in 2006, the speed of trains was brought under limitation. Heavy freight train movements have also been stopped since then.

Later, in 2016, the government took up a project to build a new separate railway bridge over the Jamuna River to facilitate train communication with North Bengal. Now that the bridge is open, the railway line on the old bridge has been removed.

The Bridge Department believes that, if the 11-foot space in the middle of the bridge is used as a road, the pressure on traffic can be handled to a great extent. As a result, the suffering of passengers facing long traffic congestion will also be reduced.