HCMC's gateway enlarged to boost connectivity with Mekong Delta

Work started on the project on Tuesday morning to expand a 7-km section of the highway that runs between Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard and the border of Ho Chi Minh City and Long An Province.

Set to be completed in late 2024, the project will cost VND1.5 trillion (US$63.6 million).

Luong Minh Phuc, director of the Transportation Works Construction Investment Project Management Authority of HCMC (TCIP), said the project will build new roads running along the highway and will also enlarge the existing highway.

The project also includes the construction of a new bridge that will be 40m long and 34m wide, as well as the expansion of an existing bridge.

After the expansion, the highway will have six lanes instead of the current four.

According to TCIP, which oversees the project, the enlarged highway section will improve traffic connections and thus contribute to boosting trade between the city and the Mekong Delta, Vietnam's agriculture hub.

Traffic jam on National Highway 50 in Binh Chanh District, HCMC, in 2019. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa

A total of 729 houses owned either by local residents or state agencies will be affected by the highway expansion.

So far, 85% of the site needed for the project has been cleared and the rest will be handed over to the contractor within the second quarter of next year.

National Highway 50, which runs 88km between HCMC’s District 8 and Long An’s Can Giuoc District, is one of the two highways connecting the city and the delta. The other one is National Highway 1.

There is now just one expressway linking the city and the delta, the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway.