Design model of the undersea tunnel (Source: internet) Quang Ninh (VNA) – A management board ofthe undersea tunnel at the gateway of the world heritage site of Ha Long Bay hasbeen set up under a decision announced by the People’s Committee of northeasternQuang Ninh province on May 31.
Vu Van Khanh, Director of the provincialDepartment of Transport, was appointed as head of the board.
The 1.3km-long undersea tunnel project in HaLong city is estimated to cost 7.875 trillion VND (346.5 million USD).
It will start on Ha Long Street, at theintersection that leads into Sun World Ha Long Park (Bai Chay Ward), and end atthe intersection on Le Thanh Tong Street (Hong Gai Ward) – two streetsconsidered as “main axes” on the two sides of the Cua Luc Bay.
The tunnel is expected to help connect transportof coastal roads in Ha Long city.
This year, Quang Ninh will carry out two keytransport projects, namely Van Don – Mong Cai Highway and Ha Long – Cam Phacoastal road.
The 80.2km-long Van Don – Mong Cai Highway withfour lanes for vehicles will be carried out under the build-operate-transfer(BOT) form with a total investment of nearly 11.2 trillion VND (492.58 millionUSD). Fees will be collected for 20 years on the highway.
Meanwhile, the 27 km-long coastal road linkingHa Long - Cam Pha will be implemented under the build-transfer (BT) form, witha total investment of 5.6 trillion VND (246.4 million USD).
Construction of the Vingroup-invested projectwill begin by the end of June. Once completed, the road is expected to helpease traffic on National Highway 18A section running through Cam Pha city,while forming a modern and comprehensive transport network connecting urbanareas in the province.
Together with other local transport projects,including the Hai Phong – Ha Long, Ha Long – Van Don highways, upgrades toNational Highway 18, and Van Don international airport, the aforesaid keyprojects are hoped to improve the province’s transport infrastructure system,thus contributing to local socio-economic development and promoting localtourism and border- and marine-economic potential.
In the meantime, the province is focusing on improving its tourisminfrastructure, targeting to welcome 12 million visitors, including 5 millionforeigners, this year.
It has invested in building and upgrading many roads to shorten thetravel time of tourists to Quang Ninh.
In late April, the final segments of the Bach Dang bridge connecting thenorthern port city of Hai Phong and Quang Ninh were joined.
The bridge, once operational, is expected to help shorten the distancefrom Hanoi to Quang Ninh from 175 kilometres to 125 kilometres as well as cuttravelling time between the two localities by half.
Quang Ninh is endowed with natural advantages for sea and islandtourism.
The province has a coastline of more than 250 kilometres and some 2,000islets, two-thirds of the total in Vietnam. The spectacular stretch of coastconnects the UNESCO-recognised World Heritage Site of Ha Long Bay with majesticnatural scenery, Bai Tu Long Bay, Van Don and Co To islands and Tra Co beachwith Cat Ba National Park in the northern port city of Hai Phong.
In 2017, a total of 9.87 million tourists visited the province,including 4.28 million foreigners. More than 70 percent of the tourists camevia sea and island tours.
In the first five months of the year, the province served more than 7million visitors, including 2.5 million foreigners. It expects to welcome 12million holidaymakers by the end of this year, 5 million of them areforeigners. -VNA
VNA
