A rendering of the HCM City-Trung Lương section after expansion. — Photo courtesy of Đèo Cả Group

HCM CITY — Việt Nam will begin a major expansion of a nearly 100km expressway next month to ease chronic congestion on the main artery connecting HCM City with the Mekong Delta, one of the country’s key agricultural and logistics hubs.

The Ministry of Construction has approved the expansion of the HCM City-Trung Lương-Mỹ Thuận expressway, with construction scheduled to start on December 19 and finish in 2028.

The project will widen the route to six to eight lanes and add two emergency stopping lanes.

It will be implemented under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, without using State budget funds.

A consortium led by Đèo Cả Group, together with HCM City Infrastructure Investment (CII), Tasco, and Hoàng Long Construction, has been selected as the project investor.

The expansion covers 96.1km, beginning at the Chợ Đệm interchange in HCM City and ending north of the Mỹ Thuận 2 Bridge in Đồng Tháp Province.

The HCM City-Trung Lương section will be widened from four to eight lanes, with a maximum speed of 120 km/h. The Trung Lương-Mỹ Thuận section will expand from four to six lanes, designed for 100 km/h.

The project also includes frontage roads, upgraded interchanges, rest areas, non-stop electronic tolling and an intelligent transport system.

More than 1,070 hectares of land will be required, including 120.5 hectares of additional land to be cleared in HCM City, Long An and Đồng Tháp.

Local authorities will manage land acquisition and resettlement through separate sub-projects.

Financing and toll plan

The project has a total cost of over VNĐ36 trillion (US$1.4 billion), with 15 per cent investor equity and 85 per cent mobilised capital.

Estimated construction costs exceed VNĐ20.7 trillion, while compensation and resettlement costs total more than VNĐ5 trillion.

The concession period is projected at 17 years and three months.

From 2029-2031, tolls for Category 1 vehicles (cars under 12 seats, light trucks and buses) will start at VNĐ2,100 per km, with adjustments planned every three years.

The expressway is the primary high-speed link between HCM City and the Mekong Delta, reducing travel time to Mỹ Thuận to 1 hour 45 minutes, compared with over three hours via National Highway 1.

But after 14 years of operation, the HCM City-Trung Lương stretch frequently faces severe congestion due to rising traffic volumes. 

The Trung Lương-Mỹ Thuận section, opened in 2022, lacks emergency lanes and has recorded multiple accidents.

The ministry said the expansion would help reduce bottlenecks and traffic accidents, strengthen connections to major ports and border gates, and support economic development across the southern region.

A representative of Đèo Cả Group said preparations for the groundbreaking ceremony were underway and that construction was expected to take 36 months.

Once finished, the upgraded route will form part of the eastern branch of the North-South Expressway, a top national priority aimed at improving logistics efficiency and regional integration. — VNS