The HCMC Department of Transport has proposed the municipal government let Dong Nai Province develop the Cat Lai Bridge, which will connect the province's Nhon Trach District and HCMC's District 2.
The HCMC Department of Transport has proposed the municipal government let Dong Nai Province develop the Cat Lai Bridge, which will connect the province’s Nhon Trach District and HCMC’s District 2.
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| Cat Lai ferry service is currently overloaded due to the rocketing demand for travel between HCMC and Dong Nai Province – PHOTO: LE ANH |
In particular, the neighboring province has actively teamed up with the city to facilitate the VND7.2-trillion project by proposing taking charge of the project’s construction and calling for investors to join the project.
According to the municipal traffic development zoning plan until 2020, with a vision from that point forward, Cat Lai Bridge, connecting the two localities, is expected to boost the development of the Nhon Trach new urban area.
Earlier, the city’s government proposed the prime minister add the Cat Lai Bridge project to a master plan, replacing the currently overburdened Cat Lai ferry service. Several investors suggested building the bridge under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format.
However, BOT is currently an investment format for new roads only, not existing ones, which allows local residents to choose the roads they please.
The municipal government later ordered the suspension of the project to consider a new format of public-private partnership, so the project has yet to be approved.
The cable-stayed bridge is expected to stretch 4.5 kilometers, starting at My Thuy Intersection in District 2 and ending at provincial road 25B, which is some one kilometer from the existing ferry terminal.
Once completed, the bridge will serve as a driving force for the two localities’ economic and urban growth, attracting more local and foreign investors to the fields of industry, service, trade and tourism, which are also strengths of the two regions, alongside linking HCMC and Dong Nai with Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.
(Source:SGT)
