The central city will construct a road tunnel at the most crowd intersection in downtown Tran Phu and Le Duan streets in serving for APEC 2017. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh

DA NANG (Biz Hub) — The central city has approved a project to construct the VNÐ137.5-billion (US$6.11 million) West Han river bank traffic intersection, which will be funded by the city's budget.

The 21,300sq.m project will include a 460m-long tunnel at the busiest traffic intersection in downtown Tran Phu and Le Duan streets, which will serve the APEC 2017 meet.

The city authorities said the underground tunnel section would be 40m long and 7.5m wide on Tran Phu Street, while the open-air tunnel section would be 94.4m long.

The tunnel is expected to become operational in 2017, when the city will host the APEC meet.

The road tunnel project includes the VND240-billion ($10.6 million) fund for the upgrade and decoration of main streets and public attractions for APEC 2017.

The project will also ease traffic congestion at the intersection.

Last December, the city announced a plan to build a tunnel under the Han River, the first such road tunnel under the river, for VND3.3 trillion ($157 million).

Da Nang has invested a lot in urban development to make it the largest city in the central region and a ‘green city' by 2025, with funds from the World Bank (WB).

In 2013, the WB agreed to provide $202 million for a $272-million sustainable development project to help improve the city's Bus Rapid Transit network, build new roads and to revamp the existing drainage system.

The WB also gave 70 per cent of the total investment of $218.4 million for a five-year priority infrastructure project in the 2008-13 period. — VNS