A new expressway connecting Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau is being considered to relieve traffic pressure on existing roads.

As VnExpress reports, on February 7, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung allowed the Ba Ria-Vung Tau People’s Committee to move forward with a feasibility study for the inter-province expressway, known as the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway.

The connector will span 77.8 kilometers, to be constructed in two phases. The first (approximately 47 kilometers) runs from Bien Hoa Town in Dong Nai Province to Phu My Town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. It’s estimated that this stretch will cost VND9.3 trillion (almost US$400 million), including VND3.2 trillion (US$137.1 million) for site clearance.

The second stretch (31 kilometers) will link Phu My Town with the coastal city of Vung Tau. According to the plan, the selection of contractors and construction work will take place from 2021 to 2025. When the first phase is completed, the route will have four lanes, and then six lanes when the entire project is done.

The new expressway is expected to divert traffic away from National Route 51, the current main route from Saigon to Vung Tau via Dong Nai, which is frequently congested due to its connection with many seaports.

Back in 2019, Vietnam also announced that it will place top priority on 11 components of the ambitious North-South Expressway project, three of which are publicly funded, while the rest will be funded through a private-public partnership deal.

In July the same year, another much-anticipated project in Dong Nai — Long Thanh International Airport — also saw some progress, as the Airports Corporation of Vietnam announced the completion of a feasibility study for the aerodrome’s first phase. It’s still too early to tell, but construction on the initial part of Long Thanh is expected to begin in late 2020 and be finished in 2025.

[Photo: Long Thanh Expressway/Flickr user Vy Vu]