The To Lich River could become a crucial urban artery of Hanoi should the proposal is approved.
Tien Phong reports that the Nhat Viet Environmental Group (JVE) has proposed a highly ambitious project that would involve building underground sewers and an underground highway along the To Lich River. The work would, in theory, improve pollution, traffic jams and flooding in the surrounding areas.
As envisioned, the two-level road tunnel would include an upper floor running in the direction of Noi Bai Airport, while the lower level would send traffic towards Vo Chi Cong-Ring Road 3. Each floor would be made up of three lanes allowing for speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour.
Below the road tunnel, a huge anti-flooding system of water collection wells and drainage tunnels would be built to take in rainwater from Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Hai Ba Trung, Dong Da, Cau Giay and part of Tay Ho and Thanh Tri districts.
The overall road and drainage tunnels system would be 16.8 meters wide and run for 11.65 kilometers along the To Lich River at a depth of at least 30 meters.
However, the news source adds that some experts have questioned the feasibility of, and need for, such a massive project. No price tag has been announced, but building underground is difficult and expensive.
In May of 2020, work began on a 21-kilometer-long underground sewage system for the heavily polluted To Lich River. It is not clear how far that project has progressed, or what its relation is to the proposed road/sewage tunnel above.
[Top image via Tien Phong]
