Holiday travelers will get a preview of Phnom Penh’s new Cambodia-China Friendship bridge during the final days of the Pchum Ben festival, according to City Hall.
With construction almost complete, the bridge, which spans the Tonle Sap river, will be opened to cars and motorbikes between 5 a.m. and 6 p.m. from September 21 to 25 in order to ease congestion on the Cambodia-Japan Friendship bridge, which runs alongside it, according to municipal spokesman Long Dimanche.
“We are just allowing driving [on the bridge] to reduce the traffic jams that always occur there,” he said.
“We think this can ease traffic a lot.”
In a post to his Facebook page, Mr. Dimanche says that because construction is not complete, large vehicles and pedestrians will not be permitted on the bridge.
Mr. Dimanche said he did not know when the bridge would be permanently opened, and officials in the municipal department of land management could not be reached.
In August, the country’s sixth Cambodia-China Friendship bridge—the longest bridge spanning the Mekong in the country—opened in Stung Treng province.
