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🇻🇳 Vietnam /Energy & Infrastructure

Nghệ An plans 10-lane road by burying a foul-smelling canal

From Tuổi Trẻ · () Vietnamese

Translated from Vietnamese and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement New plan
  • Nghệ An’s construction department is consulting residents on a plan to underground the Bắc Canal and expand Nguyễn Sỹ Sách Road in Vinh.
  • The proposed 3.2-kilometer road would have a 60-meter cross-section, including a 10-lane main carriageway, side roads, sidewalks and greenery.
  • Officials aim to complete approval procedures in September 2026 and begin construction in the fourth quarter, while residents have endured severe pollution along much of the canal.

Nghệ An is considering an unusual trade-off for Vinh’s urban expansion: burying a heavily polluted canal to make room for a 10-lane road.

On September 7, the provincial Department of Construction began seeking residents’ views on adjustments to the zoning plan for Vinh Phú, Trường Vinh and Vinh Lộc wards. The proposal covers Nguyễn Sỹ Sách Road from Nguyễn Văn Cừ Street to Hưng Hòa regulating lake, a 3.2-kilometer route that would be expanded alongside the undergrounding of the Bắc Canal.

The redesigned road would measure about 60 meters across. Its main carriageway would have 10 lanes and be 36 meters wide, with two-meter medians on each side. Six-meter side roads, four-meter sidewalks, trees and coordinated technical infrastructure would complete the layout. The planning adjustment would not fundamentally change the area of water-surface land, officials said, but it would increase land allocated to transport.

The department described the new Nguyễn Sỹ Sách corridor as a strategic solution to improve land use and support modern urban development. After public consultation ends on September 22, it plans to work with relevant agencies and local authorities to submit the adjustment for approval in September and complete procedures for a fourth-quarter 2026 groundbreaking.

The Bắc Canal is more than 4.6 kilometers long and about 15 meters wide. A 2016 renovation added embankments and a separate wastewater system, but pollution returned within a few years. Only the first 1.2 kilometers improved after being enclosed in a box culvert. Along the remaining 3.4 kilometers, the water is often black and foul-smelling, especially during prolonged hot weather. Wastewater channels running beside the canal no longer prevent sewage from entering it when there is no rain, leaving stagnant, foaming water in the canal.

The formation of the new Nguyễn Sỹ Sách corridor will contribute to developing urban space in a modern direction and create new momentum for the province and Vinh city.

· Nghệ An Department of ConstructionThe department’s report describes the proposed road and canal project as a strategic urban-development solution.
About this summary

Originally published by Tuổi Trẻ in Vietnamese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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