Construction of the Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu Expressway in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta will begin construction in 2024.

Tran Van Thi, the director-general of the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure (CIPM), said the Ministry of Transport has sought a pre-feasibility study for the 33 trillion dong ($1.4 billion), 225km expressway by July.

The money for the work will come from multilateral agencies and reciprocal capital from the government.

The expressway, which will pass through four provinces, will have four lanes and a speed limit of 80km/h.

Starting in Kien Giang province’s Ha Tien city, it will go through Hau Giang province’s Long My district and Soc Trang province’s Thanh Tri district before ending at Bac Lieu province’s Bac Lieu city.

It will connect the Xa Xia International Border Gate in Ha Tien, National Highway 1A, road N1 connecting Long An, Dong Thap and An Giang provinces, and the eastern and western sections of the North-South Expressway.

The work is expected to take two years, said Thi.

The expressway will improve transport infrastructure, contributing to the socio-economic development in the delta and enhancing inter-regional transportation network, and help link Vietnam with Cambodia.

Work on several transport infrastructure projects in the delta is being speeded up.

The 51km Lo Te-Rach Soi Highway between Can Tho city and Kien Giang province will open to traffic by the end of September.

The Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway, also 51km, will be completed by the end of this year, while work on the 23km My Thuan-Can Tho Expressway will begin in October this year and be completed by the end of next year.

Construction of the 155km Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang Expressway is expected to start in 2023 and take three years.

The 28km An Huu-Cao Lanh Expressway through Tien Giang and Dong Thap provinces and the 26km My An-Cao Lanh Expressway in Dong Thap will be built in 2021-2025.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK