An interchange connecting HCMC's Belt Road No. 2 and the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway was opened to traffic last Friday, helping motorists cut travel time by around four hours compared to the old route.
An interchange connecting HCMC’s Belt Road No. 2 and the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway was opened to traffic last Friday, helping motorists cut travel time by around four hours compared to the old route.
Work started on the interchange in April last year at a total cost of VND2,434 billion with VND600 billion spent on site clearance.
The interchange has eight access roads stretching a combined 12 kilometers and four kilometers of bridge and 15 sewers.
The new interchange makes it possible for heavy-duty trucks to use the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, instead of only under-ten-ton trucks. This helps ease the pressure on national highways with heavy truck traffic and boost trade exchanges between HCMC and other southeastern provinces.
As for the remaining part of the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, Pham Hong Quang, deputy general director of Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), said it is scheduled for completion by the end of next year.
However, VCE will try to get it done by February 15 next year, just before the traditional Lunar New Year holiday, to meet rising travel demand, Quang added.
Meanwhile, construction of a four-kilometer road linking the East-West Highway in HCMC and the expressway is originally planned to finish in February next year. But VCE expects it to be up and running in December this year as at present it is 80% complete.
In January this year, the first 20 kilometers of HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway was opened to traffic, shortening traveling time between HCMC and Vung Tau City.
The 55-kilometer HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway has a first-phase investment of VND20.63 trillion sourced from ODA loans and Vietnam’s reciprocal capital.
(Source: SGT)
