HCM CITY — The HCM City Department of Transport expects to start construction on 70 transport projects this year.

Nguyễn Văn Toàn, head of the department’s planning and investment division, said the city would shorten the investment preparation time and propose more policies to attract investors.

Of the 70 projects, 45 of them will involve the upgrading and expansion of roads, and 23 will be new bridges.

District 9 will have the most bridge projects, with a total of six including the overpass bridge in the new Eastern Bus Station, and bridges Chùm Chụp, Lấp, Làng, Ông Bồn and Vàm Xuồng.

In addition, the department and other city units are working on a 59km section of the southern intercity expressway with 10 lanes, connecting Bến Lức, Nhơn Trạch and Long Thành districts.

The department will also start the Mai Chí Thọ tunnel and Lương Định Của overpass bridge project in District 2, an interchange at a traffic-clogged area in Nguyễn Văn Linh and Nguyễn Hữu Cầu Street in District 7, a parallel road along the HCM City- Long Thành- Dầu Giây expressway and a two-way overpass at the Bốn Xã intersection in Bình Tân District.

The city department has sent a report to the Government on the Belt Ring Road No3 project, which will connect HCM City and Bình Dương and Long An provinces.

The investment will come from a public-private partnership (PPP) with a total of VNĐ19.8 trillion (US$853 million), including VNĐ10.1 trillion ($437 million) from the State budget and the rest from private capital.

The project will be divided into two phases. For the first phase, a 24.5m wide section of road ith four lanes will be built. The second phase will be widened from 67 to 74.5m with six to eight lanes for vehicles with a maximum speed of 100km per hour.

From 2019 to 2022 the department will complete technical design and land clearance. During this time, it will also choose the builder for the project.

The project is expected to be put into use in 2025

The department this year is focusing on generating more funds from the private sector for transport projects. The city will seek private funds for an upgrade of National Route No 1A and No 22.

Recently, the city’s People Committee directed the department to examine the investment plan of the transport projects in the form of build and transfer (BT) instead of the current form of build-operate-transfer (BOT).

The department has directed the BOT builder of the National Route No1A project (from An Lạc District to Long An Province) to change the form of investment to BT. The builder will consider the plan and inform the city People’s Committee.

Nguyễn Văn Tám, deputy director of the city department, said  the city would organise bidding for transport projects invested in the form of BT.

According to transport experts, private investment must be sought by the city for these projects. To ensure the interest of all parties and fast implementation, the right kind of investment must be chosen.— VNS