SGGP
If Long Thanh Airport is considered the "heart," then the roads leading to and from it are like its blood vessels. For the heart to be healthy, the blood vessels must be healthy, and vice versa. Therefore, the operation of Long Thanh Airport and the connection of these roads must be synchronized to maximize the effectiveness of the investment.
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| The access road from the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay expressway to Mai Chi Tho road is always congested with traffic. Photo: HOANG HUNG |
However, the facts presented reveal worrying aspects regarding connecting transportation routes (“Long Thanh Airport connecting transportation: Slow implementation, lack of synchronization further exacerbates bottlenecks,” SGGP newspaper, June 26, stated).
The existing National Highway 51, connecting Dong Nai with Vung Tau, has long suffered from traffic congestion. Therefore, hopes for a solution to this problem are pinned on the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway. Although the project has commenced, the section passing through Dong Nai province is only in the compensation phase, and provincial leaders are concerned about not meeting the deadline. This is perfectly understandable. Of course, the biggest concern is the connection between Long Thanh Airport and Ho Chi Minh City – a megacity with approximately 10 million inhabitants, a destination for international tourists and businesspeople…
According to a report by the Vietnam Airports Corporation (ACV), upon completion, Long Thanh Airport will handle 80% of the passenger traffic to and from Ho Chi Minh City. The current scale of the project shows that traffic congestion on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway is already frequent, especially on weekends and holidays. However, according to the Ministry of Transport , phase 2 of the project will only expand this expressway to 8-10 lanes. Furthermore, a light rail line from Thu Thiem to Long Thanh is not expected to be completed until 2030. Given this reality, we must now seriously consider how to address the issue of ensuring seamless connectivity between Long Thanh Airport and the city.
Previously, the biggest problem in infrastructure investment was the lack of capital everywhere, but now funding is readily available: a budget surplus of 1,043 trillion VND is deposited in banks. Therefore, projects connecting to Long Thanh Airport must be prioritized for capital allocation. Why is the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, with available land, only scheduled to begin in Q1 2025? If the investor is simultaneously undertaking too many projects, they should organize a public tender for both domestic and foreign companies to participate. Such a "busy" road is undoubtedly a "golden goose" for investors! Following a similar approach, priority investment projects should be expedited, and administrative procedures must be streamlined. Because procedures are created by people, when they are no longer suitable for reality, they must be drastically adjusted as soon as possible.
Another very serious problem is the supply of materials for the construction. In fact, the construction of the North-South Expressway project was already very stressful, and then the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 project had to scramble to find sand from the Mekong Delta provinces and Dau Tieng Lake. So where will the materials come from when all the aforementioned infrastructure projects are implemented simultaneously? A "win-win" strategy has been successfully applied worldwide : using excavated soil from underground metro construction to fill in the swampy areas of the new airport. If done this way, Ho Chi Minh City would soon have a metro system, while simultaneously solving the material shortage problem for neighboring roads.
The story of investing in the North-South Expressway and its connecting routes, Long Thanh Airport, Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 3, and numerous other projects shows that public investment is an opportunity to create projects that generate strong impetus for socio-economic development. Ensuring that these projects are completed on schedule and in a coordinated manner requires proactive, decisive, and comprehensive coordination; this responsibility weighs heavily on the shoulders of the Ministry of Transport. Therefore, reality demands that we make even greater efforts and plan ahead to avoid being caught off guard.
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