Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday asked China to help pay for new bridges across the upper and lower Mekong River in Phnom Penh as part of a ring road project aimed at reducing traffic.
During the opening of the initial project—a street connecting Russian Federation Boulevard and National Road 5 in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district, where ground was also broken to start construction of a second ring road—Mr. Hun Sen said one bridge would be built between Chroy Changva peninsula and Svay Chrum commune in Kandal province, and the second across the lower Mekong in Kandal province between the areas of Arey Ksat and Prek Takuy.
He did not disclose how much he hoped China would contribute or the cost of the bridges.
Mr. Hun Sen said the second ring road would be more than 16 km long and was budgeted at $61 million.
China will also fund a renovation project expanding National Road 51, the link between National Roads 1 and 5, to further alleviate traffic, he said.
