Road buiding costs set to hit new high with Hanoi's US$80 million plan
Authorities in Hanoi planned to spend over VND1.76 trillion (US$80.9 million) to expand a road in the city downtown, turning it into the most costly street in the whole country.
Nguyen Sy Bao, director of the city's urban project management board, told local media early this week that the plan to widen a 697-meter-long section of Beltway No.1 in Dong Da District will be submitted to legislators for approval soon.
Nearly 90% of the projected cost, which translates to over US$114,400 per meter, will be spent on site clearance, including compensation payouts for more than 640 affected family, Bao said.
The plan is part of a longer-term project to expand the 23-kilometer beltway that Hanoi's authorities have been working on since 2002.
This is the third time Hanoi has broken its own record in terms of investment cost for a street since 2005.
It has become much more expensive to build a road in the city, with the highest cost rising from VND700 million ($32,000) per meter in 2005 to VND1.4 billion (US$64,100) a meter in 2012.
In February this year, the record was broken again by Nguyen Van Huyen Street in Cau Giay District. It cost more than VND969 billion (US$44.3 million) to extend the 566-meter street, or over VND1.7 billion (US$77,800) a meter. Most of the money was spent on land clearance.