Sylhet airport link road to become a 4-lane highway

The government has taken an initiative to develop the Kumargaon-Badaghat-Airport road in Sylhet into a four lane-highway. The Planning Commission has been processing a project in this regard at a cost of 727.63crore
With the development of the road, travel with Sylhet Osmani Airport to Sunamganj, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts will be easier and traffic congestion in Sylhet city will reduce.
Planning mission officials said the Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) meeting has examined the proposals on August 25, 2021 after receiving it from the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges.
The project has been recommended to be presented at the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in compliance with the recommendations made at the meeting.
The Department of Roads and Highways (RHD) will implement it by June 2024.
Member, Planning Commission's Physical Infrastructure Division Mamun-al-Rashid said if the project is implemented, uninterrupted traffic movement will be easier with Sylhet Osmani Airport to Sunamganj, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts.
Besides, traffic congestion in Sylhet city will be reduced by constructing alternative roads for trucks and other heavy vehicles plying from Bholaganj stone quarries.
The project proposals state that Kumargaon-Badaghat-Airport road is an important district highway. The road is the main and only alternative route to Sylhet Osmani Airport.
At the same time, Sylhet city is used as a diversion of commercial vehicles to avoid traffic jams. The road starts at Kumargaon, six kilometers from Sylhet-Sunamganj road, passes through Badaghat and joins Osmani Airport Road near the airport.  The total length of the road including Badaghat Link Road is 12.60 km.
Trucks carrying stones from Bholaganj travel through Sylhet city but are facing time and financial losses due to long traffic jams at the Amberkhana intersection in the city center.
If the Kumargaon-Badaghat-Airport road is upgraded, the stone-laden trucks will avoid the long traffic jam at Amberkhana and travel through Badaghat, Kumargaon to reach the National Highway N-2. This will reduce traffic congestion and road accidents.
The project proposal further states Osmani International Airport is one of the most important airports. At present the airport is connected to Sylhet city by a single two lane connecting road. The airport must have alternative connecting roads as a KPI installation.
The main project components include land acquisition, road embankment, earth work, soil treatment, rigid, flexible pavement and construction of bus-bay intersection development, PC girder bridge and RCC box culvert.