What Atlanta’s $1.8bn I‑75 Plan Means for Dhaka: Could Big-Bang Road Spending Solve Our Choke Points?

Can a single, big-ticket highway investment undo years of gridlock? What Atlanta’s $1.8bn I‑75 plan tells Dhaka

If you commute in Dhaka, you know the routine: minor incidents cascade into multi-hour delays, planned roadworks bring entire corridors to a standstill, and every wet season seems to expose a new choke point. Georgia’s January 2026 announcement — a proposed $1.8 billion package to add express lanes on 12 miles of I‑75 near Atlanta — has reignited a global debate: do “big‑bang” highway spends fix chronic urban congestion, or do they simply shift problems elsewhere? For Dhaka’s commuters, transport planners and civic leaders, the Atlanta example is a useful mirror. This article evaluates whether a similar centralized, high‑value investment could meaningfully unclog Dhaka’s bottlenecks, and lays out practical, evidence‑based alternatives and next steps.

Quick takeaway

Short answer: A single, large highway upgrade could relieve targeted bottlenecks in Dhaka but would not be a standalone solution. Success hinges on strict project design, demand management (tolls/congestion pricing), integration with public transport, and an institutional framework that binds financing to measurable congestion relief. Without these, large spending risks high cost, induced demand and political backlash.

What Georgia’s I‑75 plan actually proposes — and why it matters

In January 2026, Georgia’s governor proposed spending $1.8 billion to add one toll express lane in each direction along a 12‑mile stretch of I‑75 in Atlanta’s southern suburbs — a notorious bottleneck on the interstate linking the Midwest to Florida. The rationale publicly advanced is straightforward: more priced lanes increase throughput, make travel times more reliable for those who pay, and protect economic competitiveness.

“When it comes to traffic congestion, we can’t let our competitors have the upper hand,” Governor Brian Kemp said, framing the project as an economic priority for the Atlanta metro area.

Two details matter for policymakers considering a Dhaka analogue:

• Scale vs scope: $1.8 billion for ~19 km implies roughly $90–100 million per kilometre — a scale typical of urban elevated highways or complex interchange rebuilds in the US that include right‑of‑way, reconstruction, and tolling infrastructure.
• Delivery model: Georgia’s plan relies on toll financing and expresses confidence in demand for priced lanes. The project is part of a pattern — other states have added priced lanes and rebuilt interchanges as a package, instead of investing only in transit.

Why Dhaka is not Atlanta — and why that matters

Dhaka’s urban form, vehicle fleet mix and institutional environment differ in ways that change the math on whether a centralized highway spend will work.

Urban morphology and modal mix

Dhaka has a far higher share of non‑car modes (rickshaws, CNG autorickshaws, buses) and dense, mixed‑use corridors where elevated highways can displace neighborhoods and markets. Congestion is often caused not just by motor vehicle demand but by mixed traffic interactions and curbside activity. An added lane on a single corridor may increase throughput for through traffic but do little to untangle local conflicts near intersections, bus stops and loading zones.

Trip purposes and patterns

Atlanta’s I‑75 serves long‑distance and intercity freight traffic as well as suburban commuters. A priced express lane can segregate those flows. In Dhaka, many trips are short, intra‑city and multimodal. That makes last‑mile integration — not just highway capacity — central to congestion relief.

Governance and project delivery

Dhaka’s transport governance is fragmented across agencies — Road Transport and Highways Division, Dhaka North and South City Corporations, Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), and others. Large, centralized projects demand a single accountable sponsor, transparent procurement and independent performance monitoring to avoid cost overruns and political intervention. That institutional certainty is often easier to achieve in US state DOT environments than in rapidly expanding South Asian megacities — though it is not impossible.

Costs and financing: how big is “big” for Dhaka?

Scale matters. At roughly $90–100m/km for the Atlanta express lanes, a 10–20 km elevated highway in Dhaka would run into the billions of dollars. For perspective, a single corridor upgrade in Dhaka at that scale would likely require:

• multisource financing — central government allocation, multilateral loans (ADB, World Bank), and potential private sector partners;
• land acquisition or use of existing ROW (very sensitive in dense urban neighborhoods);
• a credible tolling and revenue collection plan for operation and debt servicing;
• an environmental and social management plan to address resettlement, vibrations and air/noise mitigation.

Common local financing tools that could be scaled up include: development loans (ADB/World Bank), sovereign infrastructure bonds, public‑private partnerships (PPPs) with availability payments or toll revenue shares, and targeted local levies (transport special assessment or land value capture near stations). The political acceptability of tolling in Dhaka is mixed — while bridge and expressway tolls exist in Bangladesh, tolling within the city and congestion charges will require strong public outreach and guarantees that revenue improves mobility for all.

Political will and public acceptability: the critical constraint

Even if the money exists, political constraints can stall or distort big projects. Lessons from international cases show three risks:

1. Induced demand: Building more lanes often attracts more traffic. Without demand management, relief can be short‑lived.
2. Equity backlash: Priced lanes and tolls are perceived as favouring wealthier drivers unless revenues are plowed into public transport that benefits lower‑income commuters.
3. Project capture and delays: Large contracts create incentives for rent-seeking and delays, especially where procurement transparency is weak.

For Dhaka, political will must be tied to a clear, measurable outcome framework: reduced average corridor travel times, improved bus punctuality, and quantifiable emissions reductions. Transparency — public dashboards on cost, schedule and performance — will be essential to maintain trust.

Alternatives and complements to a single big road spend

Rather than an either/or choice, most global evidence favours a portfolio approach: targeted capacity upgrades plus demand management, network operations improvements and rapid transit. For Dhaka, practical options include:

1. Targeted choke‑point upgrades

Identify the top 10 most disruptive bottlenecks (examples: major interchanges, arterial chokepoints near bus depots, ferry terminals) and apply surgical interventions: grade separation at key intersections, truck bypasses, improved loading/unloading bays and signal optimisation. These interventions are typically faster, cheaper and socially less disruptive than long elevated highways.

2. Managed lanes and selective tolling

Where additional lanes are politically feasible, use managed tolling rather than free expansion. Toll revenue can fund public transport improvements on parallel corridors, offsetting equity concerns. Pilot managed lanes on one corridor, monitor equity and travel time impacts, then scale.

3. Integrate with mass transit

Dhaka’s investments in metro rail (MRT) since the early 2020s show the value of fixed‑guideway mass transit for moving people efficiently. Any major highway investment should be packaged with feeder services, park‑and‑ride facilities, and improved bus priority lanes to shift commuters out of private cars.

4. Operational technology and freight consolidation

Often overlooked: smarter operations can buy time while capital projects are prepared. Examples that work in Dhaka conditions include:

• adaptive traffic signal control and real‑time incident management using CCTV and AI;
• designated off‑peak freight delivery windows and consolidation centres to keep goods vehicles out of high‑demand hours;
• digital freight matching to reduce empty vehicle movements.

5. Demand management and pricing

Congestion pricing, even in a phased pilot, can reduce peak travel and generate revenue. Successful models (London, Singapore, Stockholm) reinvest net revenue into improved public transport and subsidies for low‑income riders — a model Dhaka could adapt with proper safeguards.

Case studies and lessons: what to copy — and what to avoid

Three lessons from global projects are especially relevant:

• Do the analytics upfront: Atlanta’s express lane investments followed detailed modelling of throughput and toll elasticity. Dhaka needs corridor‑level travel demand models that account for non‑motorised and informal modes.
• Keep equity visible: Cities that compensated lower‑income commuters by investing toll revenues into transit won public acceptance.
• Phase delivery: Break large projects into measurable, deliverable stages. Each phase should demonstrate travel‑time gains before further expansion.

Design checklist for a Dhaka‑suitable highway upgrade

If Dhaka were to pursue a major corridor upgrade inspired by Georgia’s I‑75 plan, this checklist reduces risk and improves outcomes:

• Corridor diagnosis: Rigorous data collection (travel times, vehicle counts by type, origin‑destination surveys).
• Integrated plan: Package road works with bus priority, feeder services and non‑motorised transport improvements.
• Demand management: Define tolling/congestion pricing rules and revenue reinvestment into public transport before implementation.
• Social safeguards: Resettlement minimization, compensation protocols and community engagement plans.
• Procurement transparency: Open contracts, performance bonds, and independent audits.
• Evaluation metrics: Predefined KPIs (travel time, modal shift, emissions) and a publicly accessible dashboard.

Short, medium and long‑term actions Dhaka can take now

Commuters and civic leaders need a mix of immediate relief and strategic investment horizons. Below are staged recommendations that are actionable in 2026.

Immediate (0–12 months)

• Launch corridor audits of the 10 worst chokepoints and publish results within 90 days.
• Pilot adaptive signal control at major intersections and set up an incident response unit with clear SLAs for clearing crashes.
• Introduce off‑peak delivery pilots with logistics companies to reduce daytime freight intrusion.

Near term (1–3 years)

• Negotiate a PPP or multilateral financing package for targeted grade separations and interchange rebuilds, with performance‑based payments.
• Run a congestion pricing pilot on a high‑value corridor, with revenues earmarked for bus network improvements.
• Scale up metro feeder bus services and secure land parcels for park‑and‑ride hubs.

Medium to long term (3–10 years)

• Pursue larger corridor investments only as part of an integrated multimodal strategy with legally binding revenue reinvestment clauses.
• Institutional reform to create a single accountable corridor delivery authority empowered to manage financing, design and operations.
• Use land value capture around transit nodes to finance ongoing operations and future expansions.

How to fund a big project without repeating common mistakes

Funding mechanisms that deserve serious consideration for Dhaka include:

• Multilateral concessional loans tied to institutional reforms (ADB/World Bank) to reduce upfront fiscal burden.
• Availability‑based PPPs where the government pays based on performance rather than relying solely on toll revenue.
• Transport or municipal bonds with revenues earmarked to debt service and clear auditing regimes.
• Land value capture near stations and interchanges to repatriate some of the uplift created by the infrastructure.

Whichever route is chosen, ring‑fencing revenue to fund operations and public transport is the single most important political device to secure public trust.

What commuters should watch for in 2026

As Dhaka navigates competing proposals, commuters should track four signals:

1. Are proposals accompanied by independent corridor modelling and an open data set? If not, push for transparency.
2. Is there a revenue plan that channels funds to buses, paratransit upgrades and non‑motorised transport?
3. Are pilot demand management measures (pricing, off‑peak freight) being trialled before major construction?
4. Is there a clear timeline for measurable benefits at each stage, and public reporting against KPIs?

Bottom line: Big spending can help — if it’s not done in isolation

Georgia’s I‑75 plan proves one thing: politically decisive leaders can mobilize large sums to target a specific highway chokepoint. For Dhaka, the lesson is not simply to copy the dollar figure but to replicate the disciplines behind successful projects — rigorous analytics, demand management, revenue recycling and institutional clarity.

A stand‑alone $1bn+ elevated highway, without tolling, integration with mass transit and a transparent delivery framework, is unlikely to solve Dhaka’s congestion and could generate new social and environmental costs. Conversely, a combined programme — smaller targeted upgrades, priced lanes or congestion pricing, operational technology, and accelerated mass transit integration — offers a higher probability of sustained congestion relief.

Actionable checklist for civic leaders and commuters

• Demand corridor modelling and open data from any project proponent.
• Support pilots for managed lanes and congestion pricing before committing to large capital outlays.
• Insist on public dashboards tracking travel time, emissions, cost and mode share outcomes.
• Encourage multilateral financing that conditions loans on measurable institutional reforms.

Final thought

Dhaka’s traffic problems are complex and partly a product of rapid urbanisation, mixed traffic and institutional fragmentation. Georgia’s $1.8bn I‑75 plan is a useful model for political ambition — but not a plug‑and‑play solution. The city’s best path is a disciplined, stepwise combination of targeted infrastructure, managed demand and aggressive investment in public transport and operations — all underpinned by transparency and measurable performance.

If you commute in Dhaka and want to be part of the conversation: sign up for our traffic action newsletter, share your daily choke‑point experiences, and join public consultations on local corridor pilots. Policy decisions made today will determine whether Dhaka’s next decade brings smoother commutes or deeper gridlock.

Send tips, photos or commute data to newsroom@dhakatribune.xyz — we will publish anonymised findings from subscriber data to hold decision‑makers accountable.

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