People flocked back to their hometowns for the New Year's holiday, causing severe traffic congestion on Rach Mieu Bridge.

On the first day of the 2024 New Year's holiday, people in Ho Chi Minh City and the eastern provinces continued to carry their luggage back to their hometowns, causing traffic congestion in some areas, especially on the Rach Mieu bridge connecting Ben Tre and Tien Giang provinces.

From morning to noon on December 30th, the area at the foot of Rach Mieu Bridge (My Tho City, Tien Giang Province) saw an increasing number of vehicles. Cars and trucks moved slowly in the outer lane, while motorbikes crowded the inner lane.

A stream of vehicles rushes across Rach Mieu Bridge (Photo: Contributor).

Traffic police forces in both provinces must continuously reroute traffic, prioritizing vehicles traveling from Tien Giang to Ben Tre and vice versa.

Due to the high volume of vehicles, many cars drove into the motorbike lane, causing prolonged traffic congestion. Motorbikes had to queue for more than 1km on the Tien Giang side, waiting for about 20 minutes before being allowed to cross the bridge.

Motorbikes are crammed close to the roadside (Photo: Contributor).

Nguyen Nhat Duy (29 years old, from Tra Vinh , working in Ho Chi Minh City) said that the road back home has to go over Rach Mieu Bridge, and knowing that the bridge is often congested, he made sure to leave early today.

However, traffic congestion started about 1km from the base of the bridge. It took the young man 30 minutes to cross to the other side, whereas normally it takes less than 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, a male driver named Hong Phat shared that traffic was only flowing smoothly from the Rach Mieu bridge on the Ben Tre side, while the section from Ap Bac intersection to Rach Mieu bridge (Tien Giang side) was much more congested.

"Motorcycles are still squeezing onto the shoulder to overtake, but cars and larger vehicles still have to inch forward little by little across the bridge," the male driver added.

On December 30th, the Rach Mieu Bridge BOT toll station had to temporarily suspend toll collection for about 10 minutes in the direction from Ben Tre to Tien Giang. The previous evening, the station had also stopped collecting tolls four times due to traffic congestion.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/nguoi-dan-un-un-ve-que-nghi-tet-duong-lich-cau-rach-mieu-ket-cung-20231230175615735.htm