Under river tunnel open to traffic in HCMC
VGP - The Thủ Thiêm tunnel running beneath the Sài Gòn river in Hồ Chí Minh City and the entire East-West Highway were open to traffic on November 20.
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The inaugural ceremony of Thủ Thiêm tunnel, Hồ Chí Minh City, November 20, 2011 – Photo: SGGP |
President Trương Tấn Sang, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Yasuaki Tanizaki and chief representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) attended the inaugural ceremony.
The East-West Highway, which runs through eight districts, is a key project of Hồ Chí Minh City’s urban traffic infrastructure system. The highway was built with total capital of VND 16 trillion (US $762 million), of which 65% coming from the Japanese Government’s ODA loans and the rest from city’s budget.
The Thủ Thiêm tunnel, which is 1,490m long and 33m wide, is an important section of the 22km East-West Highway.
Addressing the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoàng Trung Hải commended the city’s authorities and people on completing the project on schedule. The highway will help reduce travel time and ease traffic congestion in the inner city, at the same time facilitating urban development in the eastern part of the city.
The Deputy Prime Minister also asked relevant agencies to effectively manage and operate the Thủ Thiêm tunnel and the East West Highway./.