Vehicles on a section of the National Highway 14, which connects Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces. The first phase of the HCMC-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh expressway project will need over VND24 trillion - PHOTO: PLO

HCMC – The 68.7-kilometer HCMC-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh expressway project passing through HCMC and Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces will need an estimated investment of nearly VND24.3 trillion in the first phase, according to the prefeasibility report for the project.

A representative of the Ministry of Transport said on August 3 that the prefeasibility report had been completed, news site VnExpress reported.

Accordingly, the expressway will have two sections: one stretching from the Go Dua Intersection to the An Phu Intersection in HCMC and the other from the An Phu Intersection to an intersection with National Highway 14 in Chon Thanh District, Binh Phuoc Province.

In the first phase, the 8.6-kilometer section was designed to have 10 lanes. The remaining section will have four lanes.

Of the required investment for the first phase, more than VND12.1 trillion will be sourced from the State budget and the remaining mobilized by the investor of the project. If approved, the first phase will be conducted from 2021 to 2025.

The HCMC-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh expressway is part of the Ho Chi Minh road project and the country’s expressway system by 2020 with a vision to 2030.

At present, residents must pass some 120 kilometers of roads to travel from HCMC to Binh Phuoc. Once the HCMC-Thu Dau Mot-Chon Thanh expressway is in place, the connectivity of HCMC and the other localities in the southern key economic zone and the Central Highlands will be improved, thus boosting the socioeconomic development.