My Thuan-Can Tho
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc (fourth from right), Permanent Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh (fifth from right), and Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung (sixth from right) at the ground-breaking ceremony. Credit: VGP.

The Government of Vietnam has initiated the construction of My Thuan-Can Tho expressway in Thuan An Commune, Binh Minh Town, Vinh Long Province.

The 23km My Thuan-Can Tho expressway will begin from My Thuan Bridge No. 2 in Vinh Long City’s Tan Hoa Ward to Cha Va intersection.

Once completed, the new expressway will connect to national highway No. 1 in Binh Minh Town’s Thuan An Commune.

To be built with an investment of $209m, the expressway will feature six lanes and allow a maximum speed of 100km/h.

The expressway is expected to be completed by 2023.

Upon completion, My Thuan-Can Tho expressway is expected to reduce travel time between Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho from the current three to four hours to just two hours.

My Thuan-Can Tho is said to be the final section of the expressway system connecting the two cities.

To mark the beginning of the project, the government held a ground-breaking ceremony, which was attended by the Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Addressing the event, he said the government will focus on constructing a series of transport projects in the Mekong Delta in order to improve transport connectivity in the region, which is home to 20 million residents.

Last November, the Government of Vietnam approved the Rach Mieu 2 Bridge project that connects two Mekong Delta provinces of Tien Giang and Ben Tre.

The bridge construction project, worth VND5.1tn ($221m), was approved by Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Rach Mieu 2 Bridge project will see the construction of a 17.5km cable-stayed bridge with a 17.5m width for four lanes.

Upon completion, the new Rach Mieu 2 Bridge is expected to reduce traffic congestion on the existing Rach Mieu Bridge.