Expectations of traffic congestion reduction from investment in expanding gateway traffic projects in Ho Chi Minh City

This is expected to help improve the tense traffic congestion on major routes leading to the city center.

Along with speeding up the implementation of the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai Expressway (Tay Ninh Province), in late October, the City People's Committee "finalized" the detailed plan to implement Component Project 3 - investing in construction, renovation and upgrading of National Highway 22, the section from An Suong intersection to Ring Road 3 under the form of public-private partnership, BOT contract.

The project is deployed over a length of more than 8km, the road surface is expanded to 60m with 10 lanes to enhance traffic connection for the northwestern gateway of the city. Of which, 4 lanes in the middle will have a maximum speed of 80km/h and 6 lanes on both sides will have a maximum speed of 60km/h. On the route, 7 overpasses will be built at intersections with major roads to reduce congestion and increase traffic capacity. The total investment for construction is more than 4,190 billion VND. The project is expected to start construction in the third quarter of 2026 and be completed and put into operation from 2028.

gt.jpg -0 — Traffic overload on a gateway route into downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

To expand National Highway 22, Ho Chi Minh City will use budget capital to implement Component Project 1, which is compensation, resettlement support and infrastructure relocation in the old Hoc Mon area with a total investment of 6,227 billion VND, the clearance area is about 16.6 hectares with 1,362 affected households, of which 392 households will be completely cleared.

Component 2 of the project will relocate infrastructure in the old District 12 with a total investment of 7 billion VND due to the availability of a road expansion corridor. Compensation and land acquisition are expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2026 to start the project.

According to the Department of Construction, Highway 22 is a vital route connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Moc Bai international border gate, playing an important role in trade between Vietnam and ASEAN countries. However, the current road surface is only 36-40m wide, including two car lanes and one motorbike lane on each side, often causing traffic congestion.

The expansion of National Highway 22 will be synchronized with key traffic projects such as Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4 and Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai Expressway, thereby forming an inter-regional traffic network, enhancing the connection between the Northwest region with the city center and the Southeast provinces.

At the main gateway connecting to Binh Duong area, the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 13, the section from Binh Trieu bridge to the border with old Binh Duong with a total investment of up to 13,851 billion VND is also being accelerated.

Directing to speed up the progress of the recent project, Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of the City People's Committee, requested the Chairman of the People's Committee of Hiep Binh Ward to review and propose allocating additional resettlement sites for the project to ensure the progress of compensation and land acquisition.

To promote the project to upgrade and expand National Highway 1, the section from Kinh Duong Vuong Street to the new Tay Ninh province border with a total investment of 12,876 billion VND, Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong also requested the Chairmen of the People's Committees of wards and communes including Tan Tao, An Lac, Binh Dong, Tan Nhut, Binh Chanh to proactively implement the procedures for compensation and resettlement support immediately after the project is approved. The Department of Construction must complete the architectural competition procedures for Binh Thuan traffic intersection, Kinh Duong Vuong traffic intersection, Binh Dien bridge in October; organize the preparation, appraisal, and submission of the project Feasibility Study Report before December 15.

Regarding a series of key bridge and road projects to reduce traffic congestion in the southern gateway area, in October, the main overpass project under component project 2 of the North-South axis road upgrade project, the section from Nguyen Van Linh street to Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway under the BOT contract, with a total investment of VND 5,024 billion, was also deployed.

This traffic route is nearly 8.1km long, passing through Nha Be and Hiep Phuoc communes, of which the overpass is more than 6.6km long with a scale of 4 lanes, connecting the city center with the new urban area of South Saigon and Hiep Phuoc Port Urban Area. This is one of many connecting directions from traffic routes in the city to Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway to reduce traffic pressure and shorten travel time of vehicles.

This axis route meets the inter-regional traffic needs between Ho Chi Minh City and the Eastern and Western provinces of the South, the seaport system and Long Thanh International Airport. In addition, the route is also expected to be one of the driving forces contributing to promoting industrial and logistics development in the South of Ho Chi Minh City; acting as a radial traffic axis, connecting Ring Road 2 with Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway and Ring Road 4.

From the city center to the South, the project to expand and upgrade Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, from Khanh Hoi Bridge to Tan Thuan Bridge to 6 to 8 lanes has been promoted by the Department of Construction, Department of Finance and Department of Planning and Architecture of the city. The expansion of the route combined with the construction of an underpass at the intersection of Hoang Dieu Street with 4 lanes with a total estimated investment of about 2,950 billion VND.

In addition, in this area, the degraded Tan Thuan 1 bridge is also in need of a new construction. Here, the Nguyen Khoi bridge - road project with a total investment of more than 3,724 billion VND after many years of being unable to be implemented is also expected to start construction in November, completed in the fourth quarter of 2027. This is a flyover route of more than 2.5 km long, crossing the Te canal and Ben Nghe canal connecting the old District 7 area with the city center.

In addition to the main bridge, the project also builds more than 1.1km of bridgehead road, Nguyen Khoi service road and expands Hoang Trong Mau and Vo Van Kiet streets. The goal is that when completed, the Nguyen Khoi bridge - road route will create a new traffic axis from the South to the center, allowing vehicles to move between District 7 and the old District 1 to significantly shorten travel time.

From the South to the East of the city, the Thu Thiem 4 Bridge Project has also been determined to be invested in the 2025 - 2028 period, with a total investment of about 4,840 billion VND. This is a bridge connecting Huynh Tan Phat Street, crossing the Saigon River to connect to the new urban area of Thu Thiem. The Thu Thiem 4 Bridge Project will help reduce pressure on existing roads such as Ton Duc Thang, Nguyen Tat Thanh, Khanh Hoi Bridge, Huynh Tan Phat, Nguyen Van Linh, shortening travel time between the two areas.

With the above series of projects, opened to investors, contractors and construction units, the workload related to the Project Management Board for investment in construction of traffic works and departments, wards, communes, etc. will be very large in project appraisal, capital allocation, investment management, compensation and clearance.

Therefore, to avoid the situation of projects being behind schedule, sluggishly implemented for many years, causing capital increase and wasting investment resources as has happened in some infrastructure projects in the area, Ho Chi Minh City needs to have appropriate mechanisms and solutions to ensure feasibility in project implementation.

Source: https://cand.com.vn/Giao-thong/ky-vong-giam-ket-xe-tu-viec-dau-tu-mo-rong-nhung-du-an-giao-thong-cua-ngo-tp-ho-chi-minh-i786932/