Ready to expand Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh

The repair of the Long Thanh bridge expansion joint on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway was completed on July 25. Photo: Le Van

The repair of the expansion joint of Long Thanh Bridge on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway was completed on July 25. Photo: Le Van

At the same time, this is also a strategic project in connecting Long Thanh International Airport with Ho Chi Minh City when phase 1 of this airport is expected to be put into commercial operation in the first half of 2026.

Project started on August 19

The Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is approximately 55km long. Since 2015, phase 1 of the project has been put into operation with a scale of 4 lanes. Over the past 10 years, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway has played an important role in connecting Ho Chi Minh City with provinces in the Southern Key Economic Zone, contributing to reducing traffic pressure in Ho Chi Minh City's inner city, National Highway 51, promoting the development of urban areas and industrial parks along the route.

However, due to the rapidly increasing traffic volume, especially during rush hours and weekends, it has led to overload and local congestion at the beginning of the route, the Long Thanh bridge area and the National Highway 51 intersection.

According to the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC), traffic volume on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway has increased by an average of more than 10.4% per year. To date, this expressway is already overloaded, especially the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section has exceeded its capacity. According to forecasts, when Long Thanh Airport Phase 1 is expected to be put into operation in the first half of 2026, traffic congestion will become more serious if the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section is not soon expanded.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV) Vu The Phiet said that according to calculations, up to 80% of passengers arriving at Long Thanh Airport need to travel from here to Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa. Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is the main connecting route between Long Thanh Airport and Ho Chi Minh City in the initial phase of the airport's operation.

According to VEC Deputy General Director Dang Hoai Nam, due to the urgent need to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section, the Government has assigned VEC as the investor of this project.

According to VEC, the estimated cost of compensation and site clearance for the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Expansion Project through Dong Nai is more than 200 billion VND, with VEC arranging the capital to pay.

At the end of May 2025, the Board of Directors of VEC approved the project investment policy. Accordingly, the project is nearly 22km long. Regarding the scale of the project, the section from the intersection of Ring Road 2 to the intersection of Ring Road 3 (Km4+000 - Km8+844.5) will be expanded from 4 lanes to 8 lanes; the section from the intersection of Ring Road 3 to the intersection of Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, excluding Long Thanh Bridge (Km8+844.5 - Km25+920), will be expanded from 4 lanes to 10 lanes. As for Long Thanh Bridge, a new bridge unit with a scale of 5 complete lanes will be invested in in the direction from Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh, on the right side of the existing bridge.

"The project has been included in the list of projects that will start construction on August 19," said Mr. Dang Hoai Nam.

Dong Nai will speed up site clearance progress

In the decision approving the investment policy, VEC divided the project into 3 component projects including: Component Project 1, expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section, with VEC as the managing agency and investor; Component Project 2, compensation, support, and resettlement for the section passing through Ho Chi Minh City, implemented by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee; and Component Project 3, compensation, support, and resettlement for the section passing through Dong Nai province, implemented by the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee.

According to Mr. Dang Hoai Nam, for the section passing through Dong Nai province (from after Long Thanh bridge to the intersection with Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway), in phase 1, the project has been cleared with a scale of 63m. However, to comply with the provisions of Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree No. 165 dated December 26, 2024 of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Road Law and Article 77 of the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety, it is necessary to clear an additional 3m on each side from the boundary that has been cleared in phase 1 of the project.

"According to preliminary statistics from the consulting unit, the total area that needs to be cleared in Dong Nai province to implement the project is more than 4 hectares" - Mr. Dang Hoai Nam
said

According to Mr. Dang Hoai Nam, the consulting unit is currently preparing the project's site clearance documents.

Recently, at a working session with the Provincial People's Committee to implement the site clearance for the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Expansion Project, Provincial Party Committee member and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Ha said that the area that needs to be cleared for the project is not large. Therefore, Dong Nai requested VEC to issue a document specifying the areas and locations that need to be prioritized for early completion of site clearance so that the province can request relevant agencies and localities to promptly implement the work.

Le Van

Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/kinh-te/202507/san-sang-mo-rong-duong-cao-toc-thanh-pho-ho-chi-minh-long-thanh-dau-giay-43a1739/