Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Dhaka Elevated Expressway partially on the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport-Farmgate route on Saturday afternoon.

The PM inaugurated the elevated expressway after paying toll at the Kawla toll plaza at about 3:30pm.

The PM’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana, road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader and Dhaka North City mayor Atiqul Islam, among others, were present at the inauguration programme.

The expressway would be opened to people and vehicular traffic from 6:00am on September 3, said a public circular issued by the road transport and bridges ministry on Friday.

The circular said that the expressway would be opened to the public movement on both sides of the route.

But two and three-wheeled vehicles and pedestrians are banned from using the expressway.

The maximum speed of vehicles on the expressway is 60km per hour while the maximum speed for vehicles during getting on or off using ramps is 40km per hour.

The 46.73-kilometre expressway project connects the airport with the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at Kutubkhali near Jatrabari.

The main elevated portion of the expressway from the airport to Kutubkhali is 19.73 kilometre, and it has 31 ramps — 15 for up and 16 for down — for a total length of 27 kilometre.

On Saturday, in the first phase, the expressway’s 11.5-kilometre section from airport’s Kawla area to Farmgate point via Tejgaon and 13 ramps was opened to vehicular traffic.

With ramps, this section’s total length is 22.5 kilometre.

The road transport and bridges ministry has fixed the expressway’s airport-Farmgate section tolls that range from Tk 80 to Tk 400.

Under category 1, the toll rate for car, taxi, jeep, sports utility vehicle, microbus (under 16 seats) and light truck (under 3 tonnes) for crossing the airport-Farmgate section from any point is Tk 80.

The toll rate for a medium truck, up to six wheels, for crossing the route from any point is Tk 320 under category 2.

Under category 3, the toll rate for a truck, over six wheels, for crossing the route from any point is Tk 400.

The toll rate for any bus, 16 seated or above, for crossing the route from any point is Tk 160 under category 4.

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway Public-Private-Partnership Project was undertaken in 2011 to reduce traffic congestion in the capital.

It was revised in 2013 because of alignment changes, and construction began in 2015 at an estimated cost of Tk 8,940 crore.

The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2024. It largely follows the existing railways in full alignment from Dhaka airport to Kutubkhali.

First Dhaka Elevated Expressway Company Ltd, an Italian, Thai, and Chinese joint venture, is implementing the project under the supervision of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority.