The expansion of National Road 51, which broke ground last week, will provide access to the Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex when it is fully operational in two years. The road, linking Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces, is one of the southern region’s busiest roads and links industrial parks in Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces with Cai Mep-Thi Vai and Ben Dinh-Sao Mai port complexes, the largest port complexes in Vietnam.

Ho Kim Lan, general secretary of Vietnam Port Association, said the expanded road would play a decisive role in the operation of Cai Mep-Thi Vai and Ben Dinh-Sao Mai port complexes in Ba Ria-Vung Tau. “In the next two years, those port complexes will handle a significant amount of export and import goods in southern provinces. If the National Road 51 is not expanded, overloading would lead to bottle necks at port complexes,” said Lan.

The expansion project is being conducted by Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway Corporation (BVEC), a joint venture between Vietnam Urban and Housing Development Joint Stock Corporation, Song Da Corporation and BIDV. Nguyen Van Dat, general director of Vietnam Urban and Housing Development Joint Stock Corporation, said the $179 million expansion project would be completed within 30 months.

“We know that this is a very important infrastructure project and we will try to put the new road into operation as soon as possible in order to address transport pressures on the road,” said Dat. According to BVEC, the expanded road would be 72.7 kilometres long, 39 metres wide with six lanes. The new road will also include the expansion of 16 bridges, the building of 13 new bridges and 12 crossovers at crowded residential areas.

Tran Minh Sanh, chairman of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province People’s Committee, said the expanded road would be a major factor pushing the region’s economic development.

Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai said the project “was too late” to meet port investors, exporters and importers’ requirements. “Under BVEC’s construction plan the expanded road project will finish in 2012, that means port investors still have to suffer overloading challenges on the road after finishing the construction of the terminal projects in 2010 and 2011,” said Hai.

He urged BVEC to shorten the construction time to boost transport efficiency and BVEC to finish the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway within the third quarter this year.

The expressway will link Bien Hoa city in Dong Nai province and Phu My town and Cai Mep-Thi Vai port complex in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.