Highway to Sihanoukville on its way
THE Cambodian government said it is actively working with China Road and Bridge Corporation, a Chinese company seeking to speed up construction of an expressway linking Phnom Penh to Preah Sihanouk prov ince, says Ministr y of Public Works and Transport officia ls.
The planned expressway will span a total of 190km and will be built parallel to the 232km long National Road 4.
The new road will be built starting from t he intersection of National Road 4 and Phnom Penh’s Tomnub Kob Srov road. Costing $1.9 billion, it is expected to ta ke 48 months to complete.
Ministr y of Public Works and Transport spokesman Vasim Soriya said t he minister is now pushing the Chinese company to begin construction soon.
“In t hese last few weeks, Minister Sun Chanthol has held ta lks with the companies’ officia ls t wice to sta rt construction by the end of November,” said Soriya.
He said the China Road and Bridge Corporation started building a fence at some points on t he site.
The construction was prev iously planned to start towards the end of last year but was delayed.
The government is also planning another expressway project linking t he capita l wit h Bavet cit y i n Svay Rieng prov ince, at t he border wit h Vietnam.
Cambodia Freight For warders Association president Sin Chanthy said hav ing t he additiona l route is somet hing a ll sectors are waiting for as National Road 4 is too narrow.
“The traffic on National Road 4 a lways faces flood problems. Earlier t his year, t he road was closed t wice causing delays to goods transportation schedules. It a lso caused detours to National Road 3 which adds to the distance from Phnom Penh,” he said.
“The new expressway will be more useful because it is faster and not [prone to] accidents.”
International seaport
National Road 4, currently the Kingdom’s main economic corridor, will also be upgraded with construction work starting as early as next year.
The project, funded by the World Bank and worth $110 million, will lengthen the road by more than 200km and take around 18 months to complete.
It aims to great ly i mprove travel from the capita l to the Kingdom’s only internationa l seaport i n Sihanoukville.