Total investment for a road connecting Yen Bai and the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway is estimated at more than US$235.3 million.

The two roads were part of the Transport Connection in the Northern Region project invested by the transport ministry, deputy director of the ministry's Project Management Unit 2 Le Thang said at a workshop held in the northern mountainous province of Lai Chau.

The first road will be expanded to connect Lai Chau with the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway. The total length of the road will stretch 147km, with 132.8km upgraded and additional 14km built.

The other road will be an entirely new route starting from the Noi Bai-Lao Cai Expressway and running 51km to Lien Son Township in Yen Bai Province.

Total investment for the road is estimated at more than US$235.3 million.

The road was still being designed, Thang said. All design work should be completed and construction should start later this year, he added.

Nearly 800sq.m of both public and non-public land across Lai Chau, Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces would be taken up by the new roads. The ministry expected that construction would affect 957 households, of which six would have to relocate while 115 would have to relinquish parts or all of their agricultural land.

Lai Chau People’s Committee Chairman Tran Tien Dung said the project would play a vital role in promoting the socio-economic development of Lai Chau, as well as other provinces in the mountainous region.

“Investment in new roads will shorten travel times, cut transportation costs and increase competitiveness, while expanding trade and helping to eliminate poverty,” he said. — VNS

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