Development or Burden: Study on Recent Transportation Infrastructure of Rajshahi City of Bangladesh

Stakeholders’ participation in the creation of municipal infrastructure is the foremost rule for achieving sustainable development goals. Unfortunately, Bangladeshi policymakers pay little attention to this field. As urbanization is in rapid mode, the need for transportation infrastructure to ensure safe mobility is at its peak. This need is met successfully only when individuals accept new constructions; therefore, this study investigated the utility of seven recently constructed seven foot over-bridges at major road networks in Rajshahi. To justify the constructions, structural adequacy and traffic volumes (PCU) were investigated alongside the acceptance among different age groups. Methodologically, the study employed traffic counts, Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), 4 Key Informant Interviews (KIIs), and a pedestrian survey (on about 6587 people) at sites including Nowdapara, Laxmipur, Shaheb Bazar, New Govt. Degree College, Agrani School, Talaimari, and Binodpur. Developing countries like Bangladesh have resource constraints to achieve SDGs; thus, mega projects require community acceptance to reach desired goals. Unnecessary fund allocation without stakeholder participation creates inefficient transportation facilities, as seen in Rajshahi. This case study concludes with an actionable recommendation to shift toward participatory governance and user-centric design to ensure that infrastructure serves as a development asset rather than a public burden.