The expressway will help reduce traffic congestion on National Highway 1 and boost local production and development, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said at the opening ceremony.

The VND12.19 trillion ($523 million) expressway connecting Bac Giang Province, 45 kilometers northeast of Hanoi, with the border province of Lang Son is also expected to enhance trade between Vietnam and China.

The four-lane expressway is 64 kilometers long, 25 meters wide, has a designed speed of 100 km per hour, and runs parallel to a strip on the existing National Highway 1A (Vietnam’s 2,300 km transnational highway) which connects the two provinces. This route will collect toll for 17 years (2020-2037).

Work on the expressway began in October 2015 and was scheduled for completion last year. However, the Ministry of Transport had to select a new investor for the project after the original one ran out of capital.

The Bac Giang – Lang Son expressway is part of the 143 km Hanoi – Lang Son expressway, connecting the capital with the Huu Nghi International Border Gate in Lang Son Province.

Vietnam will have 6,411 kilometers of highways under the national development until 2020, with vision until 2030, Deputy PM Dung said.

Bac Giang is an emerging manufacturing base in northern Vietnam.