Overview of the Biên Hòa - Vũng Tàu expressway project. The first construction phase is slated to be completed by 2026. – Photo baotintuc.vn

HCM CITY – Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính has approved an investment plan for the first phase of the Biên Hòa - Vũng Tàu expressway project, which is expected to speed up travel between Đồng Nai, Bà Rịa - Vũng Tàu and HCM City.

The total investment will be about VNĐ19.6 trillion (US$862.7 million). Around VNĐ6.6 trillion will come from the State’s budget to cover land clearance compensation and relocation.

The expressway is expected to ease congestion on National Highway 51. It will be around 53.7 kilometres long, connecting Đồng Nai and Bà Rịa – Vũng Tàu.

It will have a speed limit of no more than 100 kilometres per hour, and be built under the public-private partnership (PPP) model and Build – Operate – Transfer model.

It will run parallel to National Highway 51 and cut through the HCM City - Long Thành - Dầu Giây expressway and Bến Lức - Long Thành expressway.

The first phase of the project will include four lanes, except for the segment between the two intersections between the expressway and HCM City - Long Thành - Dầu Giây and Bến Lức - Long Thành, which will have six lanes instead.

Investment and construction will be carried out from 2021 to 2026.

The project will add to traffic infrastructure needed to fully utilise Cái Mép – Thị Vải Port and the future Long Thành international airport.

The Ministry of Transport, which is in charge of the project, plans to survey potential investors and work with other authorities on the project’s feasibility study. It targets choosing an investor by the end of 2022.

Việt Nam aims to develop additional 4,000km of expressways by 2030. – VNS