Workers are racing against time to finish construction of Lo Te – Rach Soi Expressway, scheduled to welcome traffic in mid-October. 

The 51-km expressway runs southwest from the Lo Te T-junction in Thot Not District, Can Tho City to Rach Soi Ward in Rach Gia Town, Kien Giang Province, home to Phu Quoc Island. 

Construction of the VND6.3 trillion ($272.4 million) Can Tho expressway started in 2016, with a $200 million loan from South Korea, and the rest sourced from state coffers.

A completed expressway section connecting to Vam Cong Bridge, a major link in the Mekong Delta region, has had a median strip installed.

The expressway is expected to help reduce traffic accidents on narrow and overloaded Highway 80.

Workers install median strips on recently tarred sections of the expressway.

After median strips are installed, Nguyen Van Phuong, 44, and his team employ plaster to reinforce the concrete blocks.

An overpass in Vinh Thanh District of Can Tho City is still under construction. Underneath, workers are also scrambling to surface the highway.

Diep Bao Tuan, deputy general director of the Cuu Long Corporation for Investment Development and Project Management of Infrastructure, said heavy rains in the past few days have affected construction progress. The entire expressway has about 5 km yet to be covered by asphalt.

Workers sweat under the scorching sun on October 1.

The intersection between Bon Tong Bridge and Lang Sen Bridge on Lo Te - Rach Soi Expressway is still under construction.

Kim Hyung Seok, a representative for the South Korean contractor and construction director of the expressway, said work is expected to complete by the end of this year.

But if weather conditions are favorable and progress ensured, the expressway could be operational by October 15. The expressway will be the second serving traffic in the Mekong Delta, after the one that connects the agriculture hub with HCMC. 

Workers plant grass along an expressway section in Tan Hiep District of Kien Giang Province.

The route will be part of the western section of North-South Expressway from Binh Phuoc Province via Ho Chi Minh City to Ca Mau Province.

Vietnam is planning and building several major expressways in the southern region to improve connectivity between HCMC and neighboring provinces. Among these is Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway, which could open to traffic at the end of this year, after a decade's delay.