Residents of Dala Township living across the Yangon River from the commercial capital’s downtown told DVB that toll collection for vehicles crossing the newly opened Yangon-Dala Bridge began on Thursday following the bridge’s opening on Feb. 6.
“There has been congestion on the bridge since they began the toll collection system,” a Dala resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity. The 1.8-kilometer cable-stayed bridge spans the Yangon River, connecting downtown Yangon to Dala, Twantay, Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships, as well as providing access to neighbouring Ayeyarwady Region.
The four-lane Yangon-Dala Bridge, officially known as the Myanmar-Korea Friendship Bridge, received 80 per cent of its funding from South Korea. It stands 160 feet high, allowing international vessels of up to 15,000 tons to pass beneath it.
“We hope that through the Korea-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, the lives of the Myanmar people will become more convenient and smooth, and that opportunities for balanced regional development will be created,” South Korea’s embassy in Myanmar stated on Feb. 11. “Korea will continue to strengthen the friendship between the peoples of both countries.”
The Department of Bridges under the regime’s Ministry of Construction announced that private passenger vehicles weighing under three tons (3,000 kg) will be charged 500 MMK ($0.13 USD), based on the exchange rate of 3,880 MMK per 1 U.S. dollar.
Light trucks, including Canter and Dyna vehicles, will pay 1,000 MMK ($0.26 USD). Minibuses will be charged 2,000 MMK ($0.52 USD), while six- and eight-wheel cargo trucks will be charged 4,000 MMK ($1.03 USD).
The regime added that arrangements are being made to allow some Yangon Bus Service (YBS) routes to operate across the bridge later this month. The bridge’s operating hours were extended from 6 a.m. to 4 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Feb. 12.
The regime has banned pedestrians from accessing the bridge after a number of residents walked across the bridge during its first week. “They’ve put up signs saying people can’t cross on foot,” a Dala resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity.
Dala residents have complained that the property prices in the township, which was one of Yangon Region’s least developed due to its long-standing geographic isolation from the city’s commercial center, have risen sharply over the last week following the bridge opening.
“Prices rose sharply. People were already raising prices before the bridge was completed, but now it’s worse,” a Dala resident said. “Plots near the bridge are being advertised for millions and even tens of millions of kyats. But I haven’t heard of many confirmed sales yet.”
Real estate agents in Yangon told DVB that a 20 x 60-foot plot of land in Dala, which cost around 20 million MMK ($5,115 USD) in 2024, is now selling for nearly 500 million MMK ($128,866 USD).
The regime stated that the bridge was financed with $157.833 million USD from South Korea’s Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), along with $30.341 million USD from Naypyidaw. An additional $ 11 million USD was later contributed, bringing the total project cost to about $188.174 million USD.
State media under the National League for Democracy (NLD) administration — the Aung San Suu Kyi government elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020 — reported in December 2020 that the bridge was 20 per cent completed.
The NLD government oversaw implementation of the project through its Ministry of Construction and monitored progress from the start of construction in 2018 up until it was ousted in the coup on Feb. 1, 2021.
The regime said negotiations for the project began in October 2012 and approved in June 2013. Completion was originally scheduled for 2023 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 military coup.
