Nation’s longest avenue opened to traffic in Hanoi

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung joins government officials and Hanoi City leaders pose next to the Thang Long Avenue sign at the inauguration of the country’s longest avenue in Hanoi yesterday on the occasion of the 1,000th anniversary of the capital city - Photo: TTXVN

HCMC - Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Sunday opened to traffic Thang Long Avenue, the country’s longest and most modern, marking a strategically significant development toward Hanoi’s western part.

Speaking at the inauguration, the Government leader highlighted the role of this new modern thoroughfare, saying it would make important contributions to the capital city’s development, the Vietnam News Agency reports.

He praised the Ministry of Transport, the city authorities and constructors for having completed the road at a time when Hanoi is celebrating its 1,000th birth anniversary.

Thang Long is the first urban expressway that has been designed and built entirely by local experts and contractors. The road, measuring 30 km in length and 140 m in width, cost over VND7.5 trillion.

The avenue connects the heart of Hanoi with satellite urban areas such as Xuan Mai, Mieu Mon and Son Tay, and tourist attractions including Ba Vi, Suoi Hai, and the Vietnam Ethnic Cultural Village.

With one end at Ho Chi Minh National Highway, it also links Hanoi with other provinces.

In particular, Thang Long Avenue is expected to facilitate the development of the Lang-Hoa Lac Hi-Tech Park, one of the country’s largest scientific and technological centers.

According to the city government, the city had to clear more than 500 hectares of land and relocate over 8,000 families and some state agencies and organizations along the road.

Neighboring Hoa Binh Province has started work on a road connecting to Thang Long Avenue which has 51 overpasses.

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Thang Long-Espana Hotel: gift from Spain

Spanish artists are working on the Hanoi-based Sen Thang Long Hotel to
turn it into the first hotel in Southeast Asia furnishing in an
European contemporary artistic style.

According
to the Second Secretary of the Spanish Embassy in Hanoi , C. Espada,
this is a unique gift that Spain presents to Hanoi on the occasion
of its 1,000 th birthday, representing the close friendship between
the two countries.

Fifteen artists have been
invited from Spain to do the decoration of the hotel’s 21 rooms,
each with a different style.

The project, which
was an initiative of the Spanish Embassy in Hanoi also opens up a
new direction of bilateral cooperation, he added.

According to Espada, once completed in June 2011, the renovated hotel,
to be renamed Thang Long-Espana Hotel, will be a symbol of the Spanish
contemporary culture in Hanoi that helps Vietnamese people know Spain
better and vice versa.

Le Hong Hai, Director of
the Hanoi Tourism Corporation’s Thang Long Opera Hotel, which runs the
Sen Thang Long Hotel, said this is an opportunity for Sen Thang Long to
improve its infrastructure, personnel training and business capacity,
thus promoting the trademarks for itself and the corporation.

Costs of the renovation at around 5 billion VND are mainly sourced from the Spanish Embassy’s cultural fund.

The first phase of the project is expected to be completed in
December this year. Spanish visitors will receive a 20-percent discount
of room rates for five years since the hotel’s re-opening./.

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