Overview

Roads are the dominant mode of transportation in Cambodia, accounting for 65% of freight movement and 87% of passenger’s traffic. Cambodia is in the middle of a road-construction and rehabilitation frenzy as the country seeks to facilitate faster transportation within and between its provinces. During Covid-19 borders closure, several major road construction projects were undertaken by the Cambodian government and partners in Siem Reap, Preah Sihanouk, Koh Kong and other provinces.

Two expressways are also being developed to serve the growing extent of economy and trade. The first line will lead from the capital Phnom Penh to the coastal Preah Sihanouk province with a total length of 230 km, 65% is already completed and due to open in 2023. The second one will lead from Phnom Penh to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a total length of 213 km and contract is under negotiation.

https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50920581/phnom-penh-sihanoukville-expressway-construction-65-percent-completed/

Maintenance is also being addressed by the competent authorities as a priority. Relating to the road transport, there are three competent authorities for the management of roads infrastructure:

1. The Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MPWT) is the competent authority for the transport sector in the Kingdom of Cambodia and manages the expressways, national roads, provincial roads. Under the MPWT there are two main Directorates related to national and provincial road transport.
2. The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) is the competent authority to manage rural roads and other roads as assigned by the Royal Government.
3. The sub-national administration is the competent authority to manage roads within the capital, cities, provincial urban through the assignment of duties from the MPWT and the MRD and approved by the Royal Government.

For further details, please go to www.mpwt.gov.kh and www.mrd.gov.kh.

For more information on government contact details, please see the following link: 4.1 Government Contact List.

Distance Matrix

Road Security

Road traffic fatalities remain the most common cause of death in Cambodia. In 2019, Cambodia saw almost 13,700 injuries and more than 2,000 deaths due to traffic accidents – with an average of 5.4 people dying daily. 

https://www.kh.undp.org/content/cambodia/en/home/presscenter/pressreleases/2021/traffic-is-the-leading-cause-of-deaths-and-injuries-in-cambodia-.html

Cambodia’s lead agency, National Road Safety Committee (NRSC), is funded by the national budget, and has a road safety strategy which is partially funded. The functions of the agency include coordination, legislation and monitoring and evaluation of road safety strategies.

https://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/new-road-traffic-law-drafted

Weighbridges and Axle Load Limits

Overloading is considered the main cause of roads damages in Cambodia and is an issue which the Ministry of Public Works and Transport has increasingly tackled over the past years by increasing weighbridges and control so current regulations and load limitations are respected but remains a challenge.

All vehicle axle loads as specified shall bear a pressure on the road of no more than 5kg/cm².

Road Class and Surface Conditions

The road network of 61,810 kms is classified as follows:

• Paved: 15,000 km (Portland cement concrete, Asphalt concrete, Double Bituminous Surface treatment)

• Unpaved: 46,810 km (Nov. 2021)

Additional information:

Potential transport disruption due to long National Holiday:

There is no experience of any delayed due to long National Holiday due to Government entity and private sector strictly control their movement for example port operation there is a rotation shift of staff during the holiday ensure continuity of port activities as well as private sector follow Government policies by pay double or triple if employee working during the weekend.

Potential of road damage caused by flood and or during raining season:

Operations of these dams in the mainstream on the Upper Mekong Basin have stirred many concerns from the Lower Mekong Basin communities on how these dams will impact their river and livelihoods. A total of 12.65 billion cubic meters of water was discharged from the Jinghong hydropower reservoir during the period of March to May 2016. These releases amounted to between 40 – 89% of flows along various sections of the Mekong River. The emergency water supplement increased water level or discharge along the Mekong mainstream to an overall extent of 0.18-1.53m or 602-1,010m3/s.

If these emergency releases did not occur, flows would have been 47% lower at Jinghong, 44% lower at Chiang Saen, 38% lower at Nong Khai and 22% lower at Stung Treng. This additional flow has also alleviated salinity intrusion in the Mekong Delta.

In addition, Loa also build another dam called Dorn Sahong to produce hydropower reservoir which result lower Mekong basin.

Source:https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/energy/what-are-the-impacts-of-dams-on-the-mekong-river/

https://www.mrcmekong.org/news-and-events/news/pilot-program-to-monitor-impacts-from-xayaburi-and-don-sahong-takes-off/

Two dams above resulted lower Mekong basin, lead to chance of flood by review is very low. In Cambodia from last 10 years back never faced Mekong River flood the only short-term flood cause by rainwater during rain season especially between October-November in the west region in the country example Banteay Meanchey, Odor Meanchey, Siem Reap, Battembang. Due to flood cause by rain does not take long so, the country transportation facing lit issue on in the effect area.