Speaking to Lao Dong, Mr. Cao Minh Duc - Director of the Department of Transport of Ben Tre province - said that National Highway 60 starts from Trung Luong intersection (My Tho city, Tien Giang province), passes through Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces and ends in Soc Trang city (Soc Trang province), with a length of about 115km. Because this route is significantly shorter than National Highway 1, vehicles traveling from Soc Trang to Ho Chi Minh City or vice versa often choose this route, so the traffic density is increasingly high. Every day, more than 20,000 cars pass through the Rach Mieu Bridge BOT Toll Station.
According to Mr. Duc, in the coming time, when the Rach Mieu 2 Bridge and Dai Ngai Bridge projects are completed and put into use, traffic congestion is expected to occur on some sections of National Highway 60 through Ben Tre province. Therefore, the leaders of Ben Tre province have proposed that the Ministry of Transport upgrade sections 2, 3, 4 of the investment project to upgrade, expand and build 4 sections of National Highway 60, connecting Rach Mieu Bridge to Co Chien Bridge (Ben Tre province). In addition, the province also proposed to build Ham Luong 2 Bridge.
Mr. Cao Minh Duc shared that Ben Tre is an island locality, surrounded by rivers, considered an "oasis". To overcome this situation, the province has proposed the Ministry of Transport to support the construction of the Tan Phu bridge project, replacing the Tan Phu ferry (Km2+299 - Km3+279) on National Highway 57B. In addition, the province proposed to build An Hoa 2 bridge and access roads on both sides of National Highway 57B.
At the same time, Ben Tre proposed to support the construction of the project to upgrade National Highway 57 from Mo Cay town to Khau Bang (Km49+650 - Km103+283) and to build bypasses on National Highways 57, 57B and 57C, through the towns of Mo Cay Nam, Thanh Phu, Binh Dai and Ba Tri.
“Currently, there is no expressway running through Ben Tre province. According to the road network planning for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050, approved in Decision No. 1454/QD-TTg dated September 1, 2021 of the Prime Minister, Ben Tre has proposed that the Ministry of Transport soon study and build a 150km-long expressway from Ho Chi Minh City to Tien Giang to Tra Vinh to Soc Trang, with the starting point in Nha Be (Ho Chi Minh City) and the end point in Soc Trang City. When the above transport projects are completed, Ben Tre will be synchronously connected, breaking the “island” status and developing socio-economy,” Mr. Duc added.
