HCMC – The Ministry of Transport has proposed that the prime minister allow the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) to tap into its own budget to widen a section of the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway in southern Vietnam.
In its proposal, the ministry said VEC is the developer and operator of the HCMC–Long Thanh Expressway, which enables it to collect tolls to pay the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Meanwhile, it will be difficult for the ministry to balance the medium-term public investment capital for the expansion project in 2021-2025.
Thus, allowing VEC to expand the expressway with its funds would bring more benefits, the ministry said.
According to the proposal, VEC is tasked with reporting on pre-feasibility studies, the possibility of achieving a balanced budget, and mechanisms associated with the project’s implementation.
VEC will widen the 21.9-kilometer-long section between HCMC and Dong Nai Province’s Long Thanh. The section connects the interchange with Beltway No.2 in HCMC and the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway interchange.
Of this, a section from the interchange with Beltway No.2 with the interchange with Beltway No.3 would be expanded to eight lanes, while the remaining section from the interchange with Beltway No.3 to the interchange with the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway would be widened to 10 lanes.
The expansion is projected to require nearly VND14.8 trillion and to be completed in early 2026.
According to the nation’s road network development plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision toward 2050, the expressway will have 10 lanes.
The first phase of the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway with four lanes was put into operation in 2015, with a total investment of US$980.7 million.
The expansion of the expressway is designed to meet increasing travel demands and help reduce traffic congestion.
