February 19, 2000
Ho Chi Minh Trail to Be a National Highway
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HANOI, Vietnam, Feb. 18 -- The Ho Chi Minh Trail, the jungle
road that
funneled Communist troops and supplies in the Vietnam War, is to
become a
two-lane national highway, the government announced today. The
plans were
announced at a news conference for the 1,000-mile roadway
between the
northern province of Ha Tay and the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh
City,
formerly Saigon, along the old Vietcong supply route.
Vietnam now has one north-south road the length of the country.
The
government hopes that the new road will ease congestion along
National
Highway 1, which is routinely flooded in the monsoon season.
The planned two-lane road, scheduled for completion in 2003 at a
cost of $375
million, will cut through 10 provinces and dense jungle in less
flood-prone
territory.
Eventually, the highway is to be widened to six lanes.
The Ho Chi Minh Trail started out in 1959 as little more than a
muddy path
for shuttling supplies on foot and bicycle. 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 that covered nearly
12,500 miles.
It also passed through neighboring Laos and Cambodia. Despite
heavy bombing,
the North Vietnamese kept the trail open, and it played an
important role in
the victory over the United States-backed government in South
Vietnam in
1975.
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
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