The Dhaka–Tangail highway was widened to four lanes in 2022 at a cost of BDT 61.68 billion. And a four-lane upgrade from Tangail to Rangpur, costing BDT 190.56 billion, is nearly complete. Combined spending exceeds BDT 250 billion for the two projects. Yet every Eid, the corridor locks northbound travellers in severe traffic jams. This Eid-ul-Adha rush has repeated the gridlock of Eid-ul-Fitr.

Except for the Dhaka–Tangail highway, no other major highway has yet reported significant jams this Eid season, though traffic volumes rose everywhere. Experts blame the protracted upgrade works as a principal cause of congestion in the Dhaka–Tangail artery. Sprawling roadside markets and mismanagement only compound the gridlock. They also identify the existing Jamuna Bridge as a key bottleneck.

Highway Police have identified 25 choke points on the Dhaka–Tangail–Rangpur corridor this Eid. Overflowing traffic, chaotic passenger boarding and trucks carrying livestock could trigger severe jams. The western mouth of the Chandra flyover, Kaliakair, Elenga, the Jamuna Bridge toll plaza, the Hatikumrul underpass and stretches in front of markets and hotels all risk grinding to a halt.

A 20 km tailback stretched from Kodda–Chandra to Chandra–Nabinagar sections on Monday afternoon. Factories across Gazipur close for the holiday today. Officials expect the subsequent crush of homebound workers will turn the jam into a prolonged snarl.

The Bridges Division, however, says infrastructure upgrades on the Elenga–Jamuna Bridge section remove any risk of obstruction during the Eid rush. The division’s secretary, Mohammad Abdur Rouf, told Bonik Barta the Elenga–Jamuna Bridge section had previously been a major bottleneck. “This time we’ve taken effective steps,” he said, adding that a new two-lane service road now runs alongside the main carriageway, giving the entire stretch functional four lanes and allowing vehicles to move at normal speed.

The secretary added that a new 700-metre road from the Jamuna Bridge eastern roundabout to Ibrahimabad railway station has also opened.

BUET Professor Hadiuzzaman told Bonik Barta the incomplete upgrade has left the highway a patchwork. “Work has dragged on so long that some sections are still being widened while four-lane stretches elsewhere sit incomplete. Flyover works are also only partially complete. After such a colossal spend, we’ve failed to unlock the full speed or benefit of four-laning — bottlenecks persist everywhere.”

He called the absence of land-use planning a big failure. “Building infrastructure alone achieves nothing. Without an integrated plan that ties road works to land management, we will neither gain the promised speed nor cut crashes or guarantee safe mobility. We will pay dearly for this.”

The highway turned lethal in the early hours of Monday when a truck carrying steel rods overturned in Kalihati, Tangail. At least 15 people died. Nine came from Varsho union in Naogaon’s Manda sub-district. Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam blamed the driver for the accident. He was speaking after launching a 25 percent fare discount for elderly, disabled and special-needs passengers at Dhaka’s Farmgate metro station. “It’s a very sad and unwanted incident. But there was no fault in the road infrastructure or management,” he said.

All the dead were low-income workers riding the truck’s roof to save money. Every Eid, workers cling to truck beds, pickups and bus roofs to get home. An on-site visit confirmed the same dangerous practice continues.

The rail Eid travel rush formally began on Saturday. The first two days passed without incident, but by Monday, outbound trains from Dhaka were severely overcrowded. Passengers rode the roofs of several intercity services. The railway had barred standing passengers in air-conditioned coaches, yet inspections found those carriages packed to overflowing.

Several trains also suffered schedule disruptions on Monday. Passengers on Rangpur, Rajshahi and other northern routes reported delays of two to five hours.

At Dhaka’s Sadarghat, the homeward rush becomes more evident from Monday afternoon. The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority expects 1 million to 1.2 million people to travel by river this Eid and has readied around 175 launches.