HCMC – The government of Lam Dong Province has sought the Government’s approval in principle for developing an expressway linking Dong Nai’s Tan Phu District with Bao Loc City in the Central Highlands province, with two traffic lanes instead of four as previously proposed.
Lam Dong wants the project to be developed under the public-private partnership format, with a total cost of VND16.2 trillion compared to VND19.5 trillion for the 66-kilometer section in the previous plan, the news site VnExpress.net reports.
A consortium comprising Deo Ca Group, Hung Thinh Corporation, and Nam Mien Trung Group Joint-stock Company is expected to serve as the project developer. Of the total investment, some VND6.5 trillion will be sourced from the State budget, VND1.45 trillion from the investor’s own funds, and VND8.26 trillion from loans.
A leader of Deo Ca Group said the smaller scale – a reduction of VND3 trillion total cost – would make it easier to attract other investors.
The proposed expressway will have two traffic lanes and two emergency lanes in the first phase between now and 2025. It will include 11km in Dong Nai and 55km in Lam Dong. In the next phase from 2025 to 2035, the expressway, with a width of 22 meters, will have four automobile lanes and two emergency lanes.
The Tan Phu-Bao Loc Expressway is in fact a section of the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway stretching 208km and having four traffic lanes, which has been included in the national expressway development plan to 2030.
The Dau Giay-Lien Khuong Expressway is divided into three sections, namely Dau Giay-Tan Phu, Tan Phu-Bao Loc, and Bao Loc-Lien Khuong, which had previously been proposed to use State capital from the medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-2025 period. Once in place, it will link with the existing HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway to connect the Central Highlands and the southeastern region.
In February last year, Lam Dong authorities sent a proposal to the Government to develop the Tan Phu-Bao Loc Expressway with four traffic lanes at a total cost of VND19.5 trillion to be developed under the PPP format.