Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung (C) attends the groundbreaking ceremony for Van Don-Mong Cai Expressway in the northern province of Quang Ninh on April 3. (Photo: VGP)
The Van Don - Mong Cai expressway is estimated to cost VND11.2 trillion ($484.76 million) and is eveloped under a public-private partnership through the build-operate-transfer contract format by a consortium comprising Long Van Infrastructure Investment and Development Co., Ltd; Van Don Sun JSC; and Cong Thanh Transportation and Construction Corporation.
The highway is to have four lanes and requires some 456 hectares of land across the outlying districts of Van Don, Tien Yen, Dam Ha and Hai Ha, as well as Mong Cai City.
As designed, the four-lane expressway will run 80 kilometers (50 miles), allowing a maximum speed of 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour, but the investor is taking steps to raise the speed to 120 kilometers per hour, in line with a set of local criteria called TCVN 5729-2012.
Construction is expected to be completed within 22 months and the route is scheduled to be opened to traffic in 2021. It will then be transferred to the State for management after some 19 years of toll collection.
Once the highway is completed, it is set to cut travel time between Van Don Economic Zone and Mong Cai town from two hours down to just 50 minutes. It also facilitates road transport from the neighboring province of Lang Son to Mong Cai, Van Don and Halong, as well as helps raise the effectiveness of the newly operational Van Don International Airport.
In addition, it will connect with the Halong-Haiphong and Halong-Van Don highways, creating the longest highway coverage in Vietnam that runs from Lao Cai in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai to Mong Cai through Hanoi and Haiphong.
The Ha Long - Van Don expressway is now under construction. It will connect with Van Don- Mong Cai expressway to become Vietnam's longest one. (Photo: baoquangninh.com.vn)
The highway will serve as an important transport gateway linking Vietnam’s northern provinces with China and other countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), helping boost cross-border trade and turn Quang Ninh into a trade and service hub.
Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Van Don-Mong Cai Expressway that the development of the route not only acts as a catalyst for the province’s socioeconomic development but also creates an important transport corridor, thereby helping improve national competitiveness, accelerate integration and development and strengthen national defense and security.
Dung also asked the Ministry of Transport and the local government to manage build-operate-transfer projects in a way that safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of the State, the investor and the general public.
According to the Provincial Competitive Index (PCI) 2018 survey released last week by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Quang Ninh was named the Vietnam’s most competitive province for a second year in a row.
The Northern province is now developing a number of infrastructure projects, including the Van Don International Airport, which is the country’s first private airport, also invested by Sun Group.
The Van Don-Mong Cai highway is expected to facilitate access to Van Don international airport, which is slated to open in late December.
The Ha Long-Hai Phong Expressway was put into service in September 2018, while the Ha Long-Van Don Expressway became operational in December the same year.
