The La Son - Tuy Loan highway through Nam Dong district has been completed and is ready to be put into use
"Dream comes true"
A few decades ago, if people in Phu Loc, Phu Vang, Huong Tra... on the other side of Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon wanted to go to the district center, or to Hue city, they had to depend on dangerous boat trips.
Mr. Nguyen Van Sau, former Secretary of the Party Committee of Phu Thuan Commune (Phu Vang), called it "the hardest days".
Despite only living less than 20 kilometers away from Hue, people in his village used to struggle to reach the city. On rainy days, the boat did not dare cross the lagoon and the children had to miss school. If the people of Ngu Dien (Phong Dien) wanted to go to Hue, they had to row almost a full day. It was tolerable on sunny days, but on rainy days, it was extremely miserable.
It was difficult to cross the lagoon to get to the big market to sell farm animals to buy food or medicine. The most miserable situation was when a patient fell into critical condition and could not reach the hospital in time.
Mr. Phan Van Lau, former Principal of Vinh Loc High School (Phu Loc) shared that when there was no bridge, he had go to work at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. and wait for the boat to get to class on time. The salary he received was only enough to last him 10 days. For the remaining 20 days, he relied on bringing a few cans of wine or piglets to sell in the city.
When Mr. Lau became a school administrator, he once asked a school teacher the reason for not coming to class. His colleague said it was because the boat that went from Vien Trinh to Vinh Thanh was out of order.
In 1989, people on the banks of Tam Giang lagoon joyously celebrated as they witnessed the biggest event since the liberation day: The first Thuan An bridge crossed Tam Giang Lagoon. In addition to the role of "paving the way" to connect Highway 49B across Tam Giang lagoon to the eastern "gateway" of the province to Hue City, Thuan An bridge has "awakened" the poor land of Phu Vang.
Thuy Duong - Thuan An road gradually formed, bringing Hue closer to the sea
In 2001, people on the other side of Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon welcomed the event Truong Ha bridge (Phu Vang) and Hoa Xuan bridge (Phong Dien) - crossing Tam Giang lagoon began the construction. By 2003, these two bridges were completed and put into use, connecting the inter-regional traffic artery from Hue center to districts and towns across the sea ...
In July 2004, people in Tam Giang-Cau Hai lagoon had the opportunity to "celebrate" when Tu Hien bridge’s construction began. Four years later, Tam Giang Bridge (Ca Cut Bridge) was built to connect Huong Phong commune with Hai Duong commune (Huong Tra), marking a milestone in the route to connect highway 49B along the coast of the province.
Within 10 years (from 2000-2010) 5 new bridges were built in the Tam Giang - Cau Hai lagoon area. A miracle, a hallmark of Thua Thien Hue, has realized the dream of thousands of households on the other side. The bridges put an end to the isolation and opened up numerous opportunities for integration and development.
Building resources
Recently, traffic infrastructure in Thua Thien Hue continues to be upgraded. In addition to the Hai Van 2 tunnel project, costing more than VND 7,296 billion which has just been completed, the construction of highways such as La Son-Tuy Loan and Cam Lo-La Son are speeding up to connect the regions.
Thua Thien Hue together with relevant ministries and branches are accelerating the construction of terminal T2 at Phu Bai airport; the construction of Highway 49B to the south through Phu Loc, connecting Chan May-Lang Co economic zone; and the construction of provincial roads connecting Hue City center to the sea such as Phu My-Thuan An road, Mai Market-Tan My...
It is expected that in early 2022, the completion of Terminal T2 at Phu Bai airport and Cam Lo-La Son highway will connect the traffic system from Chan May seaport, Phu Bai industrial zones, La Son, Phong Dien, and etc., to the provinces and cities in the Central region.
The representative of the Department of Transport said that, along with focusing on the investment in the above key traffic projects, the unit is now preparing for implementation of the projects: Ring Road 3 to the west of Hue; the 100km coastal road connecting from the north to the south end of the province; Nguyen Hoang bridge across the Huong river; To Huu road (Hue) connecting Hue to Phu Bai airport..., in order to increase the capacity to connect traffic between the sea areas, the deltas with the urban centers of districts, cities and economic and industrial zones.
At the 16th Provincial Party Congress, term 2020-2025, one of the areas identified as a catalyst for socio-economic breakthrough in the near future is to prioritize the development of infrastructure; in which, the focus on investment in modern and synchronous infrastructure is key traffic projects.
Therefore, the province is calculating and making plans to prepare resources to effectively implement the national and provincial key transport infrastructure projects in the coming time. The projects require large funding, with some projects requiring thousands of billions of VND investments.
In order to for Thua Thien Hue to become a centrally-managed city in the near future, leaders of departments shared that, in addition to resources from land funds to create capital, additional resources from the private economic sector are needed. However, in order to make good use of this resource, it is necessary to adopt investment policies to attract businesses, and at the same time benefit the people and the State.
The Government also needs to support Thua Thien Hue by creating policies to attract investment in building infrastructure and "building a foundation" for the future.
Story and photos: Minh Van