The Ministry of Transport (MoT) has requested the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) to tackle obstacles relating to site clearance to accelerate construction of the Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway, which connects Ho Chi Minh City and the neighboring provinces of Long An and Dong Nai, to put some sections into operation in November as scheduled.

The VEC, the project’s investor, plans to open to traffic two sections of the expressway next month.

The first section stretches for 3.4 km, starting in Long An province at an intersection of the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Expressway, and ending at National Highway 1 in the southern metropolis.

The other spans 6.1km from the Phuoc An Intersection to the intersection of National Highway 51 in Dong Nai province.

The MoT asked the VEC to tighten management over the progress of the project and its quality.

Construction of the 57.8-km Ben Luc – Long Thanh expressway started in 2014 with capital estimated at over VND31.3 trillion ($1.23 billion).

The four-lane expressway, which will also have two emergency lanes, allows a maximum speed of 100 km/h in the first phase. It is expected to boost links between the Mekong Delta and the southeastern region of South Vietnam.