The Ministry of Transport has announced it will temporarily open a major expressway through Ho Chi Minh City and the provinces of Long An and Tien Giang in the Mekong Delta from February 3 onwards.

The road has three lanes in each direction, including one next to the center divider that will permit speeds of between 60 and 100 kilometers per hour, another one with speed limits of 50-80 kilometers per hour and the third one near the edge of the road for emergency stops.

According to the HCMC – Trung Luong Highway Management Center, the speed limits could be reduced under foggy conditions when no vehicle might be allowed to pass then. All cars must keep a minimum distance of 50 meters from each other in all conditions.

The six-lane superhighway is more than 25 meters wide and will extend to 42 meters with ten lanes during the second stage of the project. About 16 kilometers of the road are elevated and those that run at ground level have steel-wire fences on both sides.

Do Ngoc Dung, deputy general director of My Thuan Project Management Unit that invested in the expressway, said cars from HCMC could enter the road via the National Highway 1A in Tan Tao Ward in Binh Tan District. They could also enter or exit the road midway in Ben Luc and Tan An towns in Long An Province and at the other end in the Than Cuu Nghia Commune of Tien Giang Province, he said.

Dung also said that the cars would be allowed to stop in the emergency lane only in case of breakdowns.

The project, which has taken a total investment of VND9.88 trillion (US$535 million) to construct 40 kilometers of the expressway and nearly 22 kilometers of connection roads, is considered one of the country’s most modern expressways to date.

Meanwhile, in another move to serve high traffic flows as Tet (Lunar New Year) nears, the Thu Thiem Bridge Project in HCMC opened to traffic on January 31 after completion of its second phase – the section that connects District 1 and District 2. The bridge began operating after the first construction phase in January 2008 was completed, linking District 2 and Binh Thanh District.

Construction began on the bridge in April 2005 with a total investment of almost VND1.1 trillion ($59.6 million). The 1.25- kilometer bridge, with six lanes and five spans, crosses the Saigon River.

Reported by Mai Vong