Ho Chi Minh Trail to be turned into national highway
HANOI: The Ho Chi Minh Trail, the snaking jungle thoroughfare that funneled
communist troops and supplies during the Vietnam War, is to become a major
two-lane highway.
The Vietnamese government announced at a press conference Friday its plans
for a 1,700 km (1,054 mile) road from the northern province of Ha Tay to the
southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City, along the old route of Vietcong supply
lines.
Currently, Vietnam has only one north-south road stretching the length of
the country. The new road is being proposed to ease congestion along
National Highway 1, which is routinely flooded in the monsoon season,
paralyzing traffic.
The planned road, slated for completion in 2003 at a cost of 5.3 trillion
dong ($378.6 million), cuts through 10 provinces and huge swathes of dense
tropical jungle in less flood prone territory. It's ultimately hoped to turn
the road into a six-lane highway.
The Ho Chi Minh trail started out in 1959 as little more than a muddy path
for shuttling supplies on foot and bicycles. But by the end of the war in
1975 it had become a comprehensive transportation network with five main,
roughly parallel roads and 21 crossroads covering nearly 20,000 km (12,500
miles). It also passed through neighboring Laos and Cambodia.
The trail funneled supplies and troops from North Vietnam to battlefields in
the South. Despite heavy US bombing, the North Vietnamese managed to keep
the trail open. That was key to their victory over the US-backed government
based in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City. (Associated Press)
For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service
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