Fix the chaos around Mayor Hanif Flyover
It is disappointing that people still have to endure severe traffic gridlock at one of Dhaka's key entry points—Jatrabari—despite improved inter-district communication which significantly reduced travel time. Reportedly, every day, vehicles from around 40 districts enter Dhaka through the Mayor Hanif Flyover and the roads beneath. Since the opening of the Padma Bridge, traffic on this route has further increased. However, due to poor design, weak management, and widespread violation of traffic rules, severe congestion occurs both on the flyover and the roads below. Sadly, the time saved on the highway is thus lost at the city's entrance.
The Mayor Hanif Flyover, stretching 11.5 km from Shonir Akhra to Chankharpul, was built to speed up entry into the capital. Instead, it has become one of Dhaka's worst traffic choke points. Commuters often spend hours stuck in gridlock here. According to one driver, it takes just three and a half hours to bring his bus from Khulna to Dhaka, but hours more to cross the Gulistan toll plaza. Another driver, who travels daily from Narayanganj, said it can take over an hour just to descend from the flyover at Gulistan, with the toll counter adding further delay. Beneath the structure, the situation is equally dire. The road connecting Jatrabari and Sayedabad is riddled with potholes, regularly waterlogged during the rainy season, and covered in dust during dry months. The situation has worsened, as the Sayedabad Bus Terminal, meant to hold around 800 buses, now accommodates nearly 3,000, with illegal transport counters and encroachments spilling onto the streets.
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Urban planners have long warned that flyovers are not a sustainable solution to Dhaka's traffic woes, yet the authorities keep building them without proper planning. Many, including the Mayor Hanif Flyover, now experience chronic congestion. A recent study by Brac University's Centre for Inclusive Architecture and Urbanism also found that Dhaka's 10 flyovers, covering 105 km, have 207 acres of poorly used space underneath, causing major public health, environmental, and economic losses of about Tk 21,000 crore annually, a concerning finding. The authorities must therefore act urgently to fix this situation. Since the flyover itself offers little scope for improvement, the focus should shift to repairing and maintaining the roads below to ease pressure from above. Relocating transport counters from roadside areas to inside the Sayedabad Terminal could help. At the same time, traffic monitoring and enforcement must be strengthened. Most importantly, better planning and coordination among the responsible agencies are essential to reduce the daily suffering of commuters entering Dhaka.
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