Seven expressways under construction, to be built in Mekong Delta
VGP – The Mekong Delta, home to around 20 million population, still lags behind in terms of hard infrastructure as the region has only Ho Chi Minh City-Trung Luong Expressway.
To meet growing travel demand and economic development in the region known as the country’s rice basket, fruit and aquaculture hub, seven new expressways will be built in the years to come.
Trung Luong-My Thuan
The Trung Luong-My Thuan is part of the Eastern North-South Expressway and it is expected to open to traffic by the end of this year.
Car with under 16 seats and trucks under 2.5 tons will be allowed to run during the 2021 Lunar New Year.
The 51-km expressway has total investment capital of VND 12.67 trillion (US$545 million).
My Thuan-Can Tho
The My Thuan-Can Tho expressway, with length of nearly 23 km, will break ground in November this year and is slated for completion in 2023.
Once completed, the VND4,800 billion project will be connected to the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway to improve links between Ho Chi Minh City to Can Tho.
Can Tho-Ca Mau
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has tasked the Ministry of Transport to conduct the feasibility of constructing Can Tho-Ca Mau expressway to improve the connectivity across the region.
The first section from Can Tho to Bac Lieu will be constructed in 2021-2-25 period using public funds and the second section from Bac Lieu to the southernmost province of Ca Mau will be built under the public-private partnership model.
Lo Te-Rach Soi
The 51-km Lo Te-Rach Soi runs from Lo Te T-junction in Thot Not District, Can Tho City to Rach Soi Ward, Rach Gia city, Kien Giang Province.
Workers are racing against time to accelerate the construction progress of the four-lane express with designed speed of 100km/hour so that it can open to traffic by the end of this year.
My An-Cao Lanh
The 26km expressway runs Thap Muoi District to Cao Lanh Bridge in Dong Thap Province and it is expected to be constructed during the 2021-2025 period.
Once completed, the expressway will form part of the 130-kilometer expressway connecting Dong Thap with Can Tho and Kien Giang Province.
The four-lane expressway will allow speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour.
Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang
The 155km will connect An Giang and Soc Trang, passing through Can Tho City and Hau Giang Province
The project is expected to commence in 2023 and slated for completion by 2026.
Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu
The expressway with total length of 225km runs from Ha Tien city of Kien Giang Province through Long My District of Hau Giang Province, Thanh Tri District of Soc Trang Province, to Bac Lieu city of Bac Lieu Province.
With total investment capital of over VND33,250 billion (around US$1.43 billion), it is set to have four lanes and allow speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour, it will link up with key expressways running from Ho Chi Minh City to the Mekong Delta.
In addition to the aforesaid expressways, the Ministry of Transport also asked the Government to add Hong Ngu-Tra Vinh expressway to the Mekong Delta’s planning scheme on expressway network./.
By Quang Minh
