The People's Committee of the mountainous Lao Cai province hasapproved a plan to build a link road from Noi Bai – Lao Cai Highway toSapa district, officials said last week.

Chairman of thecommittee Doan Van Huong asked relevant units and locals to complete thenecessary procedures to start the construction work soon, an officialsaid.

The 27 km-long link road is expected to be constructed with technological standards suitable to mountainous areas.

According to the plan, the entire route will have nine bridges, including five viaducts, and four flyovers over streams.

About 275 households will be shifted from 104 ha that will be used to build the road.

The total investment under a BOT model (build-operate-transfer) is expected more than 2.5 trillion VND (116.6 million USD).

The payback period of the project is expected to be 24 years and eight months via toll collection.

The construction is scheduled to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Theprovincial chairman has asked the transport department to quicklyassess and submit the project to the committee for approval to issue atender.

The construction units have been asked to work closelywith relevant sectors and local agencies to complete the project onschedule, Chairman Huong said.

The transport and constructionsectors will work together to deal with issues of environment andtourism impact, compensation, land clearance as well as resettlement.-VNA