National Road No.58 Now 63% Complete

• 12 September 2017
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Development of National Road No 58 is now well underway in a project and expected to open to traffic in December 2018.

The new road, which is being built to accelerate economic growth in the countryside near the border with Thailand, connects Banteay Meanchey on the Thai border to Otdar Meanchey directly to the east. Constructed by China-based Shanghai Construction Group Co., Ltd the project is costing USD122 million.

Prime Minister Hun Sen broke ground on the 174.478km long, 12m wide road in June 2015 and according to the Ministry of Public & Transport, the work is now 63 percent complete.

“The road is the economic artery connecting Cambodia and Thailand in term of enhancing trade investment of the two nations as well as making travelling facilitation for local commuters relatively easy and fast,” said Minister of Public Works & Transport Sun Chanthol during an inspection of progress in the first week of September.

On 6 September, the ministry also announced that construction on the Stung Bot-Norng bridge would commence in January 2018. The new bridge will link Banteay Meanchey province to Ban Norng Ian in Sa Kaeo province.

Approximately 70 percent of all new roads and bridges in Cambodia have been funded by China, with combined loans of about USD2 billion, according to a report from Ministry of Public Works and Transport.

The nation currently has about 11,000km of national roads and 4,407km of provincial roads. Over 40 percent of these roads are asphalt, according to the report.

During an inspection of the expansion work for National Road No.2 in early August, Minister Sun Chanthol said that Cambodia spends about USD200 million a year just for maintenance and repair works on the nation’s road network.