HCM CITY — The Ministry of Transport has asked the Government for permission to start construction of sub-Project No 1 of Beltway No 3 ahead of schedule with the aim of dividing traffic flows and reducing the number of vehicles entering HCM City, which would reduce congestion in inner city districts.

The new construction would reduce the journey from the city to the new urban area of Nhơn Trạch in Đồng Nai and Bình Dương provinces, the Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported.

In the first stage, construction of the 97.7km Beltway No 3 will have four lanes for heavy-duty traffic and two lanes for other vehicles, according to the Cửu Long Corporation for Investment, Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (Cửu Long CIPM) – the project management unit.

Beltway No 3 will allow traffic to travel up to 100km per hour.

The project will have four sections: the 16.7km Section 1 which runs from Bình Chuẩn to Tân Vạn in Bình Dương Province has been built under the PPP (Public – Private Partnership) investment mode and has already opened.

Construction of the second section of Beltway No 3 – the 34.3km stretch through Đồng Nai Province and HCM City -- will be undertaken in two stages.

The first stage includes Sub-project 1A to build an 8.75km stretch from Provincial Road No 25B to the HCM City – Long Thành – Dầu Giây Expressway.

Relevant agencies will negotiate and sign agreements for loans from the South Korean Government for construction of Sub-project 1A after the sub-project is approved by the Vietnamese Government.

Construction of the Sub-project 1B – an 8.96km stretch from HCM City – Long Thành – Dầu Giây Expressway to Thủ Đức Intersection on Hà Nội Highway – will be undertaken under the BOT (Build – Operate – Transfer) investment mode.

Work on Sub-projects 1A and 1B are scheduled to begin in late 2018 and early 2019.

The second stage, which includes sub-projects 2A and 2B, will build a 16.59km stretch of Beltway No 3.

Construction of the 5.39km stretch from Bền Lức – Long Thành Highway to Provincial Road 25B (called sub-project 2A) is underway.

Relevant agencies are calling for investment in sub-project 2B for construction of an 11.2km stretch of Beltway No 3 from Lê Văn Việt Intersection to Tân Vạn Intersection, according to Cửu Long CIPM.

Agencies have been seeking investment for construction works of Section 3 of Beltway No 3, a 19.1km stretch from National Highway No 22 to Bình Chuẩn, through Bình Dương Province and HCM City. Investment in this section amounts to over VNĐ10 trillion (US$440.46 million).

Investment in the first stage of Section 4 of the Beltway No 3 project –  a 28.9km stretch running from Bến Lức to the National Highway through Long An Province and HCM City – amounts to VNĐ11 trillion ($4.8 billion).

Diệp Bảo Tuấn, deputy general director of Cửu Long CIPM, said construction of the Section 3 and Section 4 of Beltway No 3 Project is scheduled to start in 2020 after investments for these sub-projects are identified. — VNS