Online Desk: The long-awaited Dhaka Elevated Expressway will open to traffic partially on September 2, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said today. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will open the expressway’s Airport-Farmgate section on that day, the minister said. She will open Bangabandhu tunnel on October 28, he added at a press briefing at Setu Bhaban in Dhaka.

Once the 11-kilometre section from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Farmgate — via Kuril, Banani, Mohakhali and Tejgaon — opens to traffic, it will serve as an alternative route to and from the airport road, one of the busiest in the city.

This section has 15 ramps for accessing and exiting the expressway that will help vehicles avoid traffic-choked crossings and roads, and thus bypass traffic congestion. Besides, the expressway will be off-limits to three-wheelers and motorcycles, allowing other vehicles to run at 80km per hour, according to sources.