Quickly expanding and building new expressways

​Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway has become overloaded after 5 years of operation

Completing the highway network

The Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway is currently the only one to have been completed and put into use. However, after 5 years of operation, this highway is currently overloaded.

According to the Vietnam Expressway Development and Investment Corporation (VEC), at the first year of operation (in 2015), the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway served nearly 10 million vehicles. By 2019, the number of vehicles on the route reached about 16.5 million. Thus, the average traffic flow growth of the expressway reaches over 10%/ year. Currently, there are 42-45 thousand vehicles passing through the expressway every day and night.

The amount of traffic increases rapidly, causing traffic jams in the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, especially the section from national highway 51 to Ho Chi Minh City. Traffic congestion is most serious on holidays and Lunar New Year when the number of vehicles increases sharply.

Facing this situation, the Provincial People's Committee has recently proposed that the Prime Minister consider investing in expanding the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway from the current 4 lanes to 10-12 lanes according to the previously approved plan.

Besides the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway which has been put into operation, the Ben Luc-Long Thanh Expressway is being built in the province.

In addition to the above two projects, the province also has expressway projects of Phan Thiet - Dau Giay, Dau Giay - Lien Khuong, Bien Hoa - Vung Tau which are also being implemented. Among these, the Phan Thiet-Dau Giay Expressway is carrying out the site clearance work, the remaining projects are in the process of implementing investment procedures.

Creating motivation for development

Dong Nai is a province with a fast economic development speed, and an important transport hub of the southern key economic region. Therefore, the demand for traffic connection, especially the expressway system is very high as they help connect, transport goods conveniently and shorten time of transportation.

In fact, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway when put in operation has helped shorten the distance and travel time between Ho Chi Minh City and Dau Giay from 3 hours to 1 hour, only 3 hours from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Thiet instead of 5 hours as before, or only 1.5 hours from Ho Chi Minh City to Vung Tau, which is 1 hour faster than before. Therefore, according to the Provincial People's Committee, an early expansion, construction of new expressways, and completing the connected transport system will create a driving force for development of the locality and the southern region.

According to Chairman of the People's Committee Cao Tien Dung, the Ho Chi Minh City-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway will be the axis of traffic connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long Thanh International Airport (Long Thanh Airport) later. Therefore, the expansion of this expressway will ensure a complete transport infrastructure when Long Thanh Airport comes into operation.

Similarly, other expressway projects when invested and completed will also help Dong Nai reduce pressure on traffic overload, creating connection with other economic areas. For example, the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway, when built, will reduce traffic congestion on the National Highway 51, creating an important traffic route connecting Dong Nai with Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and the deep seaport cluster, Cai Mep - Thị Vai (group 5). Meanwhile, the Dau Giay-Lien Khuong expressway will also help connect the Central Highlands with Long Thanh Airport.

Nam Vu