Major Expressway To Decongest Vietnam's Largest City

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (AHN) - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $10 million loan to help develop an expressway that will ease traffic congestion in and around Vietnam's largest city.

Formerly called Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City is a critical junction on the transport network for the Greater Mekong sub region composed of countries sharing the Mekong River: Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

The proposed Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway project involves the development of a 57-kilometer, four-lane expressway between 2009 and 2012. It includes a 1,721-meter bridge, eight intersections and three toll plazas.

Vietnam's economy has grown 8 percent in 2006, one of the fastest in the world. The rapid economic expansion has led to increased use of transport vehicles, which has worsened congestion on the highway network.

"The road network both within and around Ho Chi Minh City is becoming heavily congested," Paul Vallely, senior transport specialist of ADB's Viet Nam Resident Mission, said in a statement on the bank's web site. "There is an urgent need to provide relief to the city roads connecting the center of Ho Chi Minh City and the port area with roads leading north from the city to central and northern Vietnam."