Speed ​​up planning implementation

Implementing the Prime Minister's direction, the traffic network connecting Long Thanh Airport has been calculated and mentioned in specialized planning by the Ministry of Transport , meeting transportation needs in each period.

Network planning in 5 main directions

"Many years ago, when Nhat Tan Bridge was not yet completed, the only connection to Noi Bai airport was the North Thang Long - Noi Bai route. At peak times, Thang Long Bridge was constantly paralyzed, so the Prime Minister at that time asked the specialized agency to study the construction of a pontoon bridge to relieve the congestion.

Planning map of traffic system connecting Long Thanh international airport.

Long Thanh Airport is currently facing a similar situation, with the only connection to the center of Ho Chi Minh City being the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway. It is urgent to invest early and speed up the progress of projects with this airport," a Transport official (who asked to remain anonymous) shared his concerns about the connection problem with Long Thanh Airport.

Talking to Giao Thong Newspaper, Mr. Le Van Dat, Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, said that according to national specialized plans on transport, connecting to Long Thanh International Airport is in 5 main directions including: From Ho Chi Minh City; from Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Tay Ninh and Cambodia; from Lam Dong, Binh Thuan and the South Central Coast provinces; from Ba Ria - Vung Tau , Dong Nai and from the provinces in the Mekong Delta.

Of which, the direction from Ho Chi Minh City area is the most important connection direction, accounting for about 65.4 - 70.6% of the traffic connection demand of Long Thanh International Airport.

"The demand is huge, but currently, from Long Thanh airport to Ho Chi Minh City, the only option is to take the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, which is always overloaded. If infrastructure capacity is not increased or new routes are opened, the congestion will become more and more complicated, reducing the airport's attractiveness," said Mr. Dat, adding that according to the planning researched by the Ministry of Transport, the direction of Long Thanh - Ho Chi Minh City International Airport has 7 connecting routes.

"Investment in the Southeast region's inter-regional transport infrastructure system is extremely urgent, especially when Long Thanh airport is preparing to be put into operation.

Recently, the Government has mobilized resources to invest in the transport infrastructure system for the area such as Ring Road 3, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, Ben Luc - Long Thanh... which are great efforts.

However, the progress of these projects is slow compared to the completion plan of Long Thanh airport. There needs to be policies to speed up the progress of these projects, synchronized with the airport when it is put into operation," Dr. Tran Du Lich.

The first route, from Long Thanh airport, follows Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway, Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, Ring Road 2, radial axes or main urban axes of Ho Chi Minh City (less interruptions, different level intersections).

Route 2: DT25C (QL20B) → Cat Lat bridge → Ring road 2 → radial axes or different-level road system.

Route 3: DT25C (QL20B) → Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway → Dynamic Axis Road (QL50B).

Route 4: DT25C (QL20B) → Ring Road 3 → radial axes & level-differing road system.

Route 5: DT25C (QL20B) - connecting via Phu My 2 bridge - radial axes and level crossing system.

Line 6: High-speed railway to Thu Thiem station, transfer by urban railway to the city center.

Line 7: Long Thanh - Thu Thiem light railway, connecting by urban railway to the city center.

According to the leader of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, when Long Thanh International Airport is put into operation, the projects: Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, DT25C (QL20B), An Phu intersection (HCMC) need to ensure completion on schedule in 2025.

Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 speeds up progress, ensuring completion of the main expressway route by 2025 and completion of the entire project by 2026.

"To ensure effective connectivity, Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 2 must be prioritized for closure, accelerating the completion of the remaining section 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 year 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 reach the finish line," Mr. Dat commented.

By 2030, a series of traffic 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, Cat Lai ferry replacement bridge according to the planned scale of 8 lanes; prioritizing investment in main urban roads (less interruptions, mainly at different levels); accelerating investment in the Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway line and investing in MRT line No. 2 of Ho Chi Minh City.

Along with that, we will speed up investment in 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, Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai.

After 2030, projects that need to be focused on increasing connectivity with Long Thanh airport include: MRT line No. 6 in Ho Chi Minh City, Thu Thiem - Long Thanh railway; North - South high-speed railway; expanding expressways to ensure they meet the planning scale: Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway, Ring Road 3, Ring Road 4 in Ho Chi Minh City.

"Currently, the planning and investment roadmap of the projects are quite clear. In the above series of projects, the early investment in metro lines 2 and 6 of Ho Chi Minh City, especially the bridges: Dong Nai 2, Phu My 2, and the Cat Lai ferry replacement bridge is extremely necessary.

For example, the Cat Lai ferry area is currently congested regularly, with ferry travel times sometimes reaching 2-3 hours. That is a major bottleneck," said the leader of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development.

A section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway (Photo: Ta Hai).

Localities accelerate belt connectivity

Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 is 76km long, passing through 4 localities: Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An with a total investment of nearly 75,400 billion VND. This is considered a vital route connecting provinces in the Southern key economic region, especially connecting Long Thanh airport.

Mr. Tran Van Thi, Director of My Thuan Project Management Board, said that on this beltway, the Nhon Trach bridge project under component project 1A is being accelerated to finish early on April 30, 2025.

"At that time, vehicles from Ho Chi Minh City following the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway, when reaching the intersection with Ring Road 3, can turn right towards Nhon Trach bridge, to Nhon Trach urban area to go through Long Thanh airport," said Mr. Thi.

The biggest challenge now is that the intersection between Ring Road 3 and the Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh Expressway is running out of steam.

"When it comes to the airport transportation network, we need to consider the overall, comprehensive issue.

Along with the expressway system planned by the Central Government and being invested in, Ho Chi Minh City must also calculate whether the road system connecting to the main axis to Long Thanh International Airport is sufficient or not? Can it meet the capacity to handle the large number of vehicles moving from the airport to the expressway?

The transport network is more important than the main road, especially for urban areas. Wherever the urban area opens up, the transport network must open up as well.

In other words, solving the problem of connecting Long Thanh International Airport is not only the task of central ministries and branches, but localities play a very important role.

According to international experience, to solve the risk of congestion in the expressway connection network with the urban transport system, research and investment in different level intersections is also an issue that must be considered soon," said Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung, Deputy Director of the Department of Planning and Investment (Ministry of Transport).

Regarding the above issue, Mr. Luong Minh Phuc, Director of the HCM City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board (HCMC Project Management Board) said that the unit has asked contractors to focus on the progress of the two connecting branches up and down to Nhon Trach Bridge to put them into synchronous operation.

"In addition, the Ring Road 3 section from the intersection with Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway to Tan Van intersection (Binh Duong), which is mainly an overpass, is being accelerated and will be technically opened to traffic by the end of 2025. Other sections and parallel roads will be completed in 2026.

The completed projects will have a relatively complete beltway so that people from Long An, Tay Ninh, Binh Duong provinces... can conveniently go to Long Thanh airport 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 close the Ring Road 2, Mr. Tran Quang Lam, Director of the HCM City Department of Transport, said that the two sections of the Ring Road 2 in the East, including 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 procedures for investment.

A section of Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 2 (Photo: My Quynh).

Of which, section 1 is 3.5km long, with a total investment of about 9,328 billion VND. Section 2 is 2.8km long, with a total investment of about more than 4,500 billion VND.

"Both projects have been approved by the City People's Council for capital implementation in 2025 and completion in 2027.

At that time, the connection between Tan Son Nhat airport and Long Thanh airport will also be more convenient.

"Vehicles from Tan Son Nhat airport follow Pham Van Dong street, to the Ring Road 2 intersection, follow Ring Road 2 to go to the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway and to Long Thanh airport," Mr. Lam said, adding that for the Ring Road 4 project, Ho Chi Minh City has recently chaired and worked with localities to complete the pre-feasibility study report to submit to the Ministry of Planning and Investment for consideration and report to the Government.

According to the plan, if it is convenient in selecting investors, it will not be implemented until 2026, and each section through localities will be completed by 2028.

Attracting PPP investment, upgrading expressways to full scale

Mr. Le Van Dat, Deputy Director of the Institute of Transport Strategy and Development, said that to ensure investment resources for the transport system connecting Long Thanh International Airport, attracting socialized capital and investment under the PPP method is very important.

Currently, the main traffic routes connecting Long Thanh Airport have all been preliminarily calling for investment or have been allocated State budget capital for investment. The PPP method needs to be oriented for investment projects to expand expressways that have been invested in phases but have not reached the planned scale such as: Ben Luc - Long Thanh, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau, connecting bridges...

To attract investment, competent authorities need to perfect the legal framework on public-private partnership (PPP): Ensure transparency and clarity in PPP contract terms; detailed regulations on risk sharing between the State and private investors, especially on revenue, policy changes, and economic fluctuations; commitment to stable transport service prices, reasonably adjusted according to inflation; Minimum revenue guarantee mechanism 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