A graphic showing the network of ring roads of the capital region

HÀ NỘI — A key new ring road around the capital is looking for funding as soon as possible, in order to be developed before the year 2030, according to recently released details.

Ring Road 5 of the capital region will be approximately 330km long, with a scale of 4-6 highway lanes, a roadbed width of at least 22-33m and service roads on both sides.

The project has a total investment of about VNĐ85,000 billion (US$3.4 billion).

The road passes through the administrative boundaries of eight provinces and cities of Hà Nội (48 km) and provinces of Hòa Bình (35.4 km), Hà Nam (35.3 km), Thái Bình (28.5 km), Hải Dương (52.7 km), Bắc Giang (51.3 km), Thái Nguyên (28.9 km) and Vĩnh Phúc (51.5 km).

Recently, the People's Committee of Bắc Giang Province sent a document to the Prime Minister proposing the allocation of central funding to implement the construction of Ring Road 5 through Bắc Giang and Thái Nguyên Provinces before 2030.

The province also requested the Ministry of Transport to provide a unified opinion on the planning scale of Ring Road 5 of the Hà Nội Capital Region, from the Hà Nội - Lạng Sơn Expressway to the Hà Nội - Thái Nguyên Expressway.

Bắc Giang Province also wants to be allowed to plan and invest in constructing a 3km service road along Ring Road 5 in Bắc Giang Province, bordering Thái Nguyên Province.

Deputy Prime Minister Trần Hồng Hà has requested the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Ministry of Transport to provide guidelines to the People's Committee of Bắc Giang province before September 1, for investing in the construction of Ring Road 5.

Originally, the Ministry of Transport asked specialised agencies to determine the main route alignment and the scope of land clearance as a basis for Bắc Giang province to plan and invest in constructing service roads using local funds.

During the period when Ring Road 5 is yet to have full funding, Bắc Giang Province plans to prepare and invest in a service road along Ring Road 5 in the province’s Tân Yên District, using local funds to connect with the section built by Thái Nguyên Province.

Previously, in response to the proposal of the People's Committee of Hà Nam Province regarding the investment in Ring Road 5, the Ministry of Transport stated that according to the road network planning for 2021-30, with a vision to 2050, the road passing through Hà Nam will be nearly 36km long, across six highway lanes and is planned for investment before 2030.

"The medium-term public investment plan for the 2021-25 period allocated to the Ministry of Transport only meets the investment needs for some critical and urgent expressway routes and addresses bottlenecks in five transport sectors, so it cannot allocate funding to implement the investment in Ring Road 5 in general and the sections of Ring Road 5 passing through Hà Nam province in the 2021-2025 period," the Ministry of Transport said.

The Ministry of Transport will closely coordinate with the People's Committee of Hà Nam province in mobilising funding as soon as possible and researching investment plans to complete the ring road in the province when conditions allow. — VNS