HCMC – Speaking at a recent meeting with leaders of provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta region, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc agreed that the Can Tho-Ca Mau Expressway will be developed in the 2021-2025 period.
The Can Tho-Bac Lieu section will be funded by the State budget as part of the 2021-2025 medium-term public investment plan, while the Bac Lieu-Ca Mau section will be built under the public-private-partnership format.
According to Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure, the project’s consulting unit, the 130-kilometer-long expressway requires total investment of VND47 trillion (US$2 billion).
The expressway is designed to have four lanes and allow a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour. It will comprise 112 bridges, eight overpasses and eight interchanges.
The Can Tho-Ca Mau Expressway will begin at the My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway in Vinh Long Province, running across the Can Tho 2 Bridge and in parallel with the National Highway 1, and is set to end at the Ca Mau City bypass. It will also pass Soc Trang and Bac Lieu provinces.
The project will contribute to completing the traffic network of the Mekong Delta region and connect with the HCMC-Trung Luong, Trung Luong-My Thuan and My Thuan-Can Tho expressways, which are under construction or yet to be built.
It is expected to ease the traffic pressure on some existing national highways, including 1A and Quan Lo-Phung Hiep, and boost the Mekong Delta region’s socioeconomic development.
A number of other expressways in the Mekong Delta region are currently under construction or have been approved.
The 51-kilometer-long Lo Te-Rach Soi Expressway, costing more than VND6.3 trillion, would be open to traffic in September, while the 51-kilometer-long Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway, costing VND12 trillion, is scheduled for completion late this year.
The 23-kilometer-long My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway project costing VND4.8 trillion will kick off in October and is scheduled for completion late next year.
Some other expressway projects that have been approved and will kick off soon include the 225-kilometer-long Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu Expressway worth VND33 trillion, the 155-kilometer-long Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway worth VND30 trillion, the 28-kilometer-long An Huu-Cao Lanh Expressway worth VND5.5 trillion and the 26-kilometer-long My An-Cao Lanh Expressway worth VND4.5 trillion.
