Contract signed to broaden highway in HCM City

The State-owned Ho Chi Minh City Financial and Investment JSC and the Hanoi Highway Construction and Investment JSC on January 8 signed a credit contract for the second phase of a project to broaden the Hanoi Highway in Ho Chi Minh City.

The project has a total investment of 518.2 billion VND (24.355 million USD), over half of which comes in the form of a 14-year loan from the Vietnam-Local Infrastructure Development Fund of the World Bank.

It aims to widen main segments of the Hanoi Highway from Thu Duc intersection to the North station No. 2 with a length of about 3 kilometres.

The road will be broadened to 113.5 metres with 10 metre-wide pavements, allowing vehicles to travel at a maximum 80 kilometres per hour.

The project, expected to finish by 2015, will also construct parallel roads on both sides of the highway from Sai Gon Bridge to Nam Rach Chiec and a road under the Rach Chiec Bridge with a length of 3.3 kilometres.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Hong said the project is important as the city is facing transport infrastructure problems from population pressure.

The highway, linking Ho Chi Minh City and the southern economic region and central coastal provinces, is expected to boost the development of the city and the southeastern region as well, she said.