HCMC – BOT Phap Van-Cau Gie JSC has proposed expanding the Phap Van-Cau Gie expressway in Hanoi City from six to eight or 10 lanes under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format.
Pham Van Khoi, general director of the firm, said that the six-lane expressway was designed to reach a maximum 92,000 passenger car units (PCU) daily. However, the daily number of vehicles on the expressway in 2020 reached over 100,000 PCU.
If the expressway is not expanded, traffic jams would worsen, especially on holidays, Khoi said.
The expansion of the Phap Van-Cau Gie expressway is necessary and can bring about many advantages due to its positive revenue in terms of the financial plan, he added.
Khoi, however, said that in line with prevailing regulations, expanding the expressway goes against the National Assembly Standing Committee’s Resolution 437.
Under the resolution, BOT does not apply to projects that include repairing or upgrading existing roads or certain sections of existing roads.
As such, the firm proposed the National Assembly Standing Committee amend and supplement the resolution and allow it to expand the expressway to optimize investment efficiency, the local media reported.
If the proposal is approved, BOT Phap Van-Cau Gie JSC will draw up an investment plan for the expansion project and carry out the construction within three or five years.
The total investment of the project will be an estimated VND5 trillion, Khoi said.
The Phap Van-Cau Gie expressway, which has six lanes and is 29 kilometers long, is one of the major routes at the south gate of Hanoi City.
The expressway project was carried out in two phases under the BOT format, with the first phase costing over VND1.9 trillion and being completed in 2015. In the second phase, the expressway was expanded from four to six lanes with a total investment of VND4.8 trillion and was completed in 2018.
