Following the Prime Minister's directive, the Ministry of Transport has promptly considered and included the transportation network connecting Long Thanh Airport in specialized planning documents, meeting transportation needs in each phase.
Network connectivity planning follows five main directions.
"Many years ago, before the Nhat Tan Bridge was completed, the only connection to Noi Bai Airport was the Bac Thang Long - Noi Bai road. During peak hours, the Thang Long Bridge was constantly paralyzed, and the then Prime Minister requested the relevant agencies to study the possibility of building a pontoon bridge to alleviate the congestion."
Map of the transportation system plan connecting Long Thanh International Airport.
Long Thanh Airport is currently facing a similar situation; its only connection to the center of Ho Chi Minh City is the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway. "Early investment and accelerated progress on projects related to this airport is crucial," a transportation official (who wished to remain anonymous) shared his concerns about the connectivity challenges facing Long Thanh Airport.
Speaking with Giao Thong Newspaper, Mr. Le Van Dat, Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, said that according to national specialized transport plans, connections to Long Thanh International Airport are via five main routes: from Ho Chi Minh City; from Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh and Cambodia; from Lam Dong, Binh Thuan and the South Central coastal provinces; from Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Dong Nai and from the Mekong Delta provinces.
Of these, the route from Ho Chi Minh City is the most important connection, accounting for approximately 65.4 - 70.6% of the transportation connection demand for Long Thanh International Airport.
"The demand is huge, but currently, the only option from Long Thanh Airport to Ho Chi Minh City is the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, which is always overloaded. If infrastructure capacity isn't increased or new routes aren't opened, the congestion will become increasingly complex, reducing the airport's attractiveness," Mr. Dat said, adding that according to the plan studied by the Ministry of Transport, there are 7 connecting routes between Long Thanh International Airport and Ho Chi Minh City.
"Investing in inter-regional transportation infrastructure in the Southeast region is extremely urgent, especially as Long Thanh Airport is preparing to begin operations."
Recently, the government has mobilized resources to invest in transportation infrastructure for the region, such as the Ring Road 3, the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway, and the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway... these are significant efforts.
However, the progress of these projects is lagging behind the planned completion of Long Thanh Airport. Policies are needed to accelerate the progress of these projects, ensuring they are synchronized with the airport when it becomes operational," said Dr. Tran Du Lich.
The first route, from Long Thanh Airport, follows the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway, Ring Road 2, radial routes, or major urban arterial routes of Ho Chi Minh City (with minimal interruptions and grade-separated intersections).
Route 2: DT25C (QL20B) → Cat Lat Bridge → Ring Road 2 → radial axes or other grade-separated road systems.
Route 3: DT25C (QL20B) → Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway → Main arterial road (QL50B).
Route 4: DT25C (QL20B) → Ring Road 3 → radial axes & grade-separated road system.
Route 5: DT25C (QL20B) - connecting via Phu My 2 Bridge - radial axes and grade-separated road system.
Line 6: High-speed rail to Thu Thiem station, transferring via urban rail to the city center.
Line 7: Long Thanh - Thu Thiem Light Rail, connecting via urban rail to the city center.
According to the leaders of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, when Long Thanh International Airport comes into operation, the following projects need to be completed on schedule by 2025: Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, DT25C (QL20B), and An Phu interchange (Ho Chi Minh City).
Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 3 project is accelerating its progress, ensuring the main expressway section is completed by 2025 and the entire project is completed in 2026.
"To ensure effective connectivity, the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 2 must be prioritized for completion, accelerating the completion of the remaining sections from Phu Huu Bridge to Vo Nguyen Giap Street and from Vo Nguyen Giap Street to Pham Van Dong Street by 2026, compared to the planned date of 2027."
A section of the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway has been basically completed (Photo: Ta Hai).
"By 2026, the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway also needs to be completed," Mr. Dat stated.
By 2030, a series of transportation projects need to be completed, including: expanding the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway to 10 lanes; completing and putting into operation Phu My 2 Bridge, Dong Nai 2 Bridge, and the bridge replacing the Cat Lai ferry according to the planned scale of 8 lanes; prioritizing investment in main urban arterial roads (with minimal disruption, mainly grade-separated intersections); accelerating investment in the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line and investing in Ho Chi Minh City's MRT Line 2.
At the same time, it is necessary to accelerate investment in the construction of connecting routes to Long Thanh Airport such as: Dau Giay - Lien Khuong Expressway, Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4, Ho Chi Minh City - Chon Thanh Expressway, and Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai Expressway.
After 2030, key projects that need to be prioritized to increase connectivity with Long Thanh Airport include: Ho Chi Minh City's MRT Line 6, the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway; the North-South high-speed railway; and the expansion of expressways to ensure they meet planned scale: the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway, and the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 and Ring Road 4.
"Currently, the planning and investment roadmap for the projects are quite clear. Among the aforementioned projects, early investment in Ho Chi Minh City's metro lines 2 and 6, especially the bridges: Dong Nai 2, Phu My 2, and the bridge replacing the Cat Lai ferry, is absolutely essential."
For example, the Cat Lai ferry area is currently experiencing frequent congestion; ferry crossings sometimes take up to 2-3 hours. That's a major bottleneck," shared a leader from the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development.
A section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway (Photo: Ta Hai).
Local authorities are accelerating the development of the ring road network.
The Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 is 76km long, passing through four localities: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An, with a total investment of nearly 75,400 billion VND. It is considered a vital artery connecting provinces in the Southern key economic region, especially connecting to Long Thanh Airport.
Mr. Tran Van Thi, Director of the My Thuan Project Management Board, said that on this ring road, the Nhon Trach bridge project, part of component 1A, is being accelerated to be completed ahead of schedule by April 30, 2025.
"At that time, vehicles from Ho Chi Minh City traveling on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, upon reaching the intersection with Ring Road 3, could turn right towards Nhon Trach Bridge, heading towards the Nhon Trach urban area to pass through Long Thanh Airport," Mr. Thi said.
The biggest challenge right now is the interchange between Ring Road 3 and the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh Expressway, which is behind schedule.
"When discussing transportation networks connecting airports, we need to consider the overall picture, comprehensively."
Along with the expressway system planned and being actively invested in by the central government, Ho Chi Minh City also needs to assess whether the road system connecting to the main axis leading to Long Thanh International Airport is sufficient? Will it be able to handle the large volume of vehicles traveling from the airport to the expressway?
The transportation network is more important than major roads, especially in urban areas. Wherever urban areas expand, the transportation network must expand accordingly.
In other words, solving the problem of connecting Long Thanh International Airport is not only the responsibility of central ministries and agencies, but the local authorities also play a very important role.
"Based on global experience, to address the risk of congestion in the connection of expressways with urban transport systems, researching and investing in grade-separated interchanges is also an issue that needs to be considered soon," said Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the Planning and Investment Department (Ministry of Transport).
Regarding this issue, Mr. Luong Minh Phuc, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Investment and Construction Project Management Board for Transportation Works (Ho Chi Minh City Project Management Board), said that the unit has requested contractors to focus on the progress of the two connecting ramps to and from the Nhon Trach bridge in order to put them into operation simultaneously.
"In addition, the section of Ring Road 3 from the intersection with the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway to the Tan Van intersection (Binh Duong), which mainly consists of elevated bridges, is being accelerated and is expected to be open for technical traffic by the end of 2025. Other sections and parallel roads will be completed in 2026."
"The completed projects will create a relatively complete ring road, allowing people from Long An, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong provinces, etc., to travel to Long Thanh airport conveniently without having to go through Ho Chi Minh City," said a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Project Management Board.
Regarding the plan to complete the Ring Road 2, Mr. Tran Quang Lam, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, said that the two eastern sections of Ring Road 2, namely section 1 (from Phu Huu Bridge to Vo Nguyen Giap Street) and section 2 (from Vo Nguyen Giap Street to Pham Van Dong Street), are also preparing the necessary procedures for investment.
A section of the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 2 (Photo: My Quynh).
Section 1 is 3.5km long, with a total investment of approximately 9,328 billion VND. Section 2 is 2.8km long, with a total investment of over 4,500 billion VND.
"Both projects have had their capital plans approved by the City People's Council for implementation in 2025 and completion in 2027."
At that time, connections between Tan Son Nhat Airport and Long Thanh Airport were also somewhat more convenient.
"Vehicles from Tan Son Nhat Airport will follow Pham Van Dong road to the Ring Road 2 intersection, then follow Ring Road 2 to access the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway and then to Long Thanh Airport," Mr. Lam said, adding that regarding the Ring Road 4 project, Ho Chi Minh City, in collaboration with other localities, recently completed a pre-feasibility study report which was submitted to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consideration and reporting to the Government.
According to the plan, if the investor selection process goes smoothly, implementation will only begin in 2026, and each section of the route through the localities will only be completed by 2028.
Attracting PPP investments and upgrading expressways to full capacity.
According to Mr. Le Van Dat, Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, ensuring investment resources for the transportation system connecting Long Thanh International Airport requires attracting socialized capital and investment through the PPP (Public-Private Partnership) method, which is very important.
Currently, the main transportation routes connecting to Long Thanh Airport have either begun attracting investment or have been allocated state budget funds. The PPP (Public-Private Partnership) model should be prioritized for projects expanding expressways that have been phased but have not yet reached the planned scale, such as Ben Luc - Long Thanh, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, and connecting bridges.
To attract investment, competent authorities need to improve the legal framework for public-private partnerships (PPP): ensuring transparency and clarity in PPP contract terms; providing detailed regulations on risk sharing between the State and private investors, especially regarding revenue, policy changes, and economic fluctuations; committing to stable transportation service prices, adjusted reasonably according to inflation; and establishing a mechanism to guarantee minimum revenue for socialized projects…
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/ngan-nguy-co-thieu-ket-noi-san-bay-long-thanh-tang-toc-trien-khai-quy-hoach-192241229121437697.htm
Comment (0)