A 20-kilometer section of Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway will be opened to traffic in September next year, instead of late this year, according to the Southern Expressway Projects Management Unit (SEPMU).
A 20-kilometer section of Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway will be opened to traffic in September next year, instead of late this year, according to the Southern Expressway Projects Management Unit (SEPMU).
Construction of the 20-kilometer expressway section between Tan Tao intersection in HCMC’s Binh Chanh District and Tien Giang Province's Trung Luong intersection started in March 2015.
 |
| A section of Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway in HCMC is under construction - PHOTO: LE ANH |
The section was initially set to be opened to traffic in June this year but received an extension until the end of the year.
SEPMU head Le Manh Hung noted that the delay was due to the site transfer needing more time than expected. There are still more than 20 households living in the Tan Tao intersection area.
As a result, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) will report to the Ministry of Transport, asking for another extension until next September.
Many other sections of Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway in Dong Nai Province are still awaiting site clearance before construction can begin. Although packages A5, A6 and A7 are set for completion at the end of 2020, more than 200 households have not been relocated, according to Hung.
Hung added that the delay in construction had resulted in higher costs.
The project is funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), where loans pledged after December 17, 2020 cannot be extended further. Therefore, VEC has to ensure that the entire expressway is finished by end-2020.
Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway, with a total length of 57.7 kilometers, runs through Long An Province (5.5 kilometers), HCMC (25 kilometers) and Dong Nai Province (27 kilometers). The grade-A expressway will have four lanes, two emergency lanes and a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour.
Of the total investment of VND31.32 trillion (or US$1.6 billion), loans borrowed from ADB amount to US$635.7 million, loans provided by the Japanese government through the Japan International Cooperation Agency US$634.8 million and Vietnam’s reciprocal capital the remainder.
(Source:SGT)
