Authorities will deploy two ferries to help ease traffic congestion while the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Bridge is closed for repairs for almost two years from January 1, it was announced yesterday.

The bridge, which takes traffic east to the Chroy Changvar Peninsula, will shut for 22 months starting on New Year’s Day. The Cambodia-China Friendship bridge, which now only caters to westbound traffic, will become two-way for the period.

However, City Hall spokesman Met Measpheakdey said more measures would also be taken. He said that the Old Stadium roundabout preceding the bridge on the west will be altered to improve flow to the China-Cambodia bridge. Secondly, the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation will provide City Hall with two ferries, which will be available to transport vehicles across the Tonle Sap river for free, Measpheakdey said.

Minister of Public Works and Transportation Sun Chanthol said Japan had provided about $30 million to repair the 709-metre structure, which was built in 1966 and first repaired in the early 1990s after sustaining damage during Cambodia’s civil war.