Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam -File photo

SANGSAD BHABAN, April 26, 2026 (BSS) - Road Transport and Bridges Minister Shaikh Rabiul Alam today informed Parliament that under the Master Plan 2040 by ADB, a total of 496.50 kilometres (km) of highways will be upgraded into 6-lane and 102 km to 8-lane by the year 2040.

The minister made the disclosure while replying to a starred tabled question by ruling party lawmaker Md. Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas from Pabna-5 in the House today.

The minister said that projects implemented under the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) within the Road Transport and Highways Division have been designated as Fast Track projects. 

“However, no ongoing project under the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) have been included in the Fast Track category,” he said.

Rabiul added that the Fast Track projects under DMTCL currently include MRT Line-6, MRT Line-1, MRT Line-5 (Northern Route), and MRT Line-5 (Southern Route), which are being implemented to accelerate mass rapid transit development in Dhaka and surrounding areas.

Providing an overview of the national highway network, the minister said that the Roads and Highways Department currently manages a total of 22,736.580 km of highways across the country.

Of this, 883.61 km have been developed as 4-lane highways, 10.488 km as 6-lane highways, and 17.347 km as 8-lane highways.

He emphasized that ongoing and planned infrastructure development by 2040 aims to significantly improve connectivity, reduce traffic congestion, and support national economic growth through enhanced road capacity and efficiency.