Work on four major road projects, worth more than US$4.3 billion, is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year, according to a Ministry of Transport report released at the conference.

The four major projects are the Hanoi-Hai Phong expressway, the Noi Bai-Lao Cai expressway, the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway and the Nhat Tan Bridge.

Hanoi - Hai Phong expressway

The project, totaling around VND24 trillion ($1.5 billion), is managed by the Vietnam Infrastructure Development and Finance Investment Corporation.

Work on the project is scheduled to begin in May and wrap up by the end of 2011.

Once complete, the 105 km expressway will link Hanoi and Hai Phong cities, two economic hubs in the northern region.

It will have four lanes, 30 bridges and 22 overpasses.

Noi Bai - Lao Cai expressway

Construction of the project, managed by the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), is due to start in the third quarter.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to a US$1.1 billion loan to partially fund the project.

In the first phase of the Noi Bai-Lao Cai project, the bank’s Ordinary Capital Resources will fund $900 million and $200 million will be sourced from its Asian Development Fund.

Government bonds will provide the remaining $120 million needed for the freeway.

The road project will start at the Noi Bai-Ha Long highway in Hanoi and will cross Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Yen Bai and Lao Cai provinces and end at the Kunming – Hekou highway in the Bat Xat District of Lao Cai.

Japan’s Pacific Consultants International Company has agreed to help their Vietnamese partners design the road.

The expressway, due for completion in 2010, will reduce traffic on Highway 2 and boost trade between Vietnam’s northern region and China.

HCMC - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway

Beginning in the fourth quarter and slated for completion in 2012, the VND 19 trillion ($1.2 billion) Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway Project involves construction of a 57 km four-lane highway with a 1,700-meter bridge, eight intersections and three toll-booths.

HCMC lies at a critical junction in the transport network for the Greater Mekong Subregion, so improvements to the road system around HCMC should remove a major bottleneck.

Site clearance work is being accelerated so the project can start on time.

Nhat Tan Bridge

The Nhat Tan Bridge in Hanoi, the sixth to cross the northern Red River, will be built by the end of the fourth quarter.

The bridge project, managed by the Ministry of Transport, is estimated to cost VND9 trillion ($469 million), sourced from the Japan Bank for Investment Cooperation.

The project comprises a 1.5 km cable-stayed bridge and two access roads.

Besides these mammoth projects, many other major works are also in the pipeline this year, the ministry said.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai urged agencies to expedite the progress of the projects, saying they would play a dual role in developing infrastructure and easing traffic gridlock in the country.