The government has announced plans to build an expressway connecting Vietnam’s two northern provinces of Hoa Binh and Son La, at an estimated cost of VND50.27 trillion (US$2.2 billion).

The new road, which will extend the Hanoi-Hoa Binh Expressway, is expected to boost the socio-economic development in Son La province and other provinces in the north western region.

Once complete, the expressway will help to form an uninterrupted corridor between the north western region and the Northern Key Economic Region, the north eastern provinces and Lach Huyen Port.

Tourism potential in the Moc Chau Highlands and the Da Reservoir are also expected to be fully tapped through the construction of the new expressway.

Currently National Highway 6 is the only major route linking the capital city with the north western provinces but the road has a lot of speed-restricting bends and often suffers from landslides.

According to the approved plan, the Hoa Binh-Son La Expressway will have a total length of 189.5 kilometres, with construction being divided into two phases.

The 85.4 kilometre long Hoa Binh-Moc Chau section will be built by 2020 at a cost of VND25 trillion (US$1.1 billion), while the remaining 104.1 kilometres will be constructed after 2020.

The project will be implemented under a public-private partnership.

Under the national expressway plan, Vietnam will have an expressway network of more than 6400 kilometres, with around 2,500 kilometres of it to be completed before 2020.

Nhan Dan