Vehicles travel on the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway. The Mekong Delta is expected to introduce two more major expressways in the years to come - PHOTO: VNA

The ministry has assigned Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure, or Cuu Long CIPM, to conduct feasibility studies (FS) for Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway and Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu Expressway.

The projects when put into service will connect with two sections of the North-South Expressway: HCMC-Trung Luong-Can Tho and Chon Thanh-Duc Hoa-My An-Cao Lanh-Vam Cong-Lo Te-Rach Soi.

Once the FS are completed, the ministry will send them to the prime minister and collect feedback from the relevant ministries and agencies before presenting them to the National Assembly, Transport Minister Nguyen Van The told Tuoi Tre newspaper on February 18.

If the National Assembly agrees to add the projects to a portfolio of public investment projects for the 2021-2026 period, the ministry will carry out essential procedures for the execution of the projects.

According to Cuu Long CIPM, the Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu expressway project will require over VND33 trillion in funding, which is set to come from sponsors, legal sources and the reciprocal capital of the Vietnamese Government.

This expressway will run through the four provinces of Kien Giang, Hau Giang, Soc Trang and Bac Lieu in the delta, with a total length of 225 kilometers and width of 17 meters in the first phase. Although designated as an expressway, the four-lane road allows vehicles to travel at a maximum speed of only 80 kilometers per hour.

The second project, the 154-kilometer-long Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway, will start from Chau Doc City in An Giang Province and stretch to Soc Trang, requiring total investment of over VND34.4 trillion.

Similar to the first expressway, it will have four lanes with a designed speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour in the first phase. The road will be further expanded to 24.75 meters in width, with two emergency stopping lanes and speed limits of 100-120 kilometers per hour. SGT

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