NEWS
Most modern expressway opened to traffic
23-10-2012
 A view of Hanoi’s fi rst expressway - Photo: TTXVN |
The 9km freeway, which lies above the belt road No.3 that connects Mai Dich and Linh Dam, allows for a maximum speed of 100 kilometers an hour and has four lanes.
In 2009 the 10km belt road as the first phase of the project was completed and was put into service with total investment capital of about VND2.2 trillion.
Speaking at the inauguration, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc described the elevated expressway in Hanoi as the most modern in Vietnam.
Phuc, who is also chairman of the Vietnam National Traffic Safety Committee, stressed that the belt road No.3 plays an important role in connecting traffic of the inner city and neighboring regions.
The new road connects major traffic routes like national highways 1A, 5 and 18 and Phap Van-Ninh Binh, Lang-Hoa Lac and Thang Long-Noi Bai expressways. Furthermore, it also boosts socio-economic development and reduces traffic congestion and accidents in the area.
The Prime Minister in 2001 decided to invest in Mai Dich-Linh Dam beltway in the two phases. The first phase built the four-lane urban road and the second continued developing the four elevated expressway in the middle of the beltway.
In June 2010, the second phase started construction with a total length of some 8.9 kilometers. It was constructed as an urban expressway with total investment of around VND5.5 trillion, funded by Japanese official development assistance loans.
The project comprises of three bidding packages, with the third running from Thanh Xuan to Bac Linh Dam ready for operation at the end of June, 2012 five months earlier than scheduled.
General director Phan Quoc Hieu of Thang Long Construction Corporation and Vu Hai Thanh, general director of Civil Engineering Construction Corporation 8 as contractors of the third bidding package at that time promised to Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang that they would resign if failing to finish construction on schedule.
Both the second construction package from Trung Hoa to Thanh Xuan and the first package from Mai Dich to Trung Hoa were opened to traffic 15 months and 8 months prior to the schedule respectively.
According to Nguyen Manh Hung, chairman of the Vietnam Automobile Transport Association, the expressway helps halve travel time from the west to the south of the city.
