The government has decided to add four more national highways across the country to the toll collection system, with nearly all new national highway projects being designated as tollways, according to officials from the Roads and Highways Department.
Officials stated that the Dhaka-Rangpur Highway will open at the beginning of next year and the newly built four-lane highways will be under the toll system.
The other national highways to be included are the Dhaka-Sylhet Highway, Sylhet-Tamabil Highway, and Dhaka-Chattogram Highway.
Considering toll collection, the government is setting up infrastructures in ongoing national highway projects.
Roads and Highways Department Superintending Engineer Zikrul Hassan told Bangladesh First that the new highways under construction include toll infrastructures.
"The new highways will have dedicated lanes as well as lanes for local transport," he added.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in 2019, directed the authorities to collect tolls from long-haul vehicles on national highways.
The Road Transport and Highways Division decided in January this year to take steps for toll collection from major roads across the country.
Currently, tolls are being collected for the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway, Hatikumrul-Banpara Highway, and Chattogram Port Access Road.
“The highway from Tangail to Rangpur will be completed by the end of this year. The Dhaka-Tangail Highway was built without provisions for toll collection, prompting the Roads and Highways Department to consider modifications for toll implementation,” Zikrul Hassan said.
He also stated that nearly all upcoming national highway projects will include four lanes with service lanes and toll collection infrastructure.
The government is implementing a 209-kilometre Dhaka-Sylhet four-lane project at an estimated cost of Tk16,918 crore, it will be brough under a toll system when opened to the public.
Similarly, the 56-kilometre Sylhet-Tamabil Highway, costing Tk3,586 crore, will also be under toll system.
The Dhaka-Chattogram Highway, one of the busiest in the country, currently has no ongoing projects. However, officials plan to bring it under a toll system after upgrading it from a four-lane to an eight-lane highway.
"Our goal is to manage the significant investments made in the road sector efficiently. We will construct local lanes on both sides of the highways for local transport, with dedicated expressways in the middle for those who wish to travel quickly, such as commercial transport," Zikrul Hassan said.
"In the future, nearly all roads will be under a toll system like the Dhaka-Mawa Highway," he added.
The Roads and Highways Department spends approximately Tk3,000 crore annually on road maintenance nationwide but receives around Tk1,500 crore in revenue, which is handed over to the government. The government then allocates funds to the department's maintenance budget.
Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri told Bangladesh First that they are working to set up infrastructures on national highways to facilitate toll collection.
