$674 million overpass to hook up airport with downtown Saigon

By Dam Tuan June 21, 2016 | 01:26 am PT

Construction of Overpass No.1 from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Ho Chi Minh City’s central business district is scheduled to start next year with total investment of about VND15 trillion ($674 million).

The 9.5-kilometer overpass will straddle some of the city's main streets starting the junction of Lang Cha Ca ending near Phu An Bridge in Binh Thanh District.

The estimated cost is of the project is from VND15 trillion to VND16 trillion ($674 million to $719 million), including compensation and site clearance costs (about VND6 trillion, equivalent nearly $270 million). The overpass will be built following the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model.

674-million-overpass-to-hook-up-airport-with-downtown-saigon

Overpasses will help reduce traffic pressure from Tan Son Nhat International Airport to downtown HCMC. Photo from VnExpress

“The investor will finance the project through joint ventures and project bonds. Construction will start in 2017 and take three years to complete,” an investor's representative said.

Vietnam's leading economy plans to build five overpasses covering more than 70 kilometers to help ease gridlock and relieve dense traffic in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Overpass No. 1 is expected to trigger more investment in other elevated roads.

Vietnam's largest airport, Tan Son Nhat received 7.89 million passengers in the first three months of the year, an increase of 25.26 percent from the same period last year, according to official figures. The number of passengers is expected to reach 31 million by the end of 2016.

Streets from Tan Son Nhat to the city's downtown suffer from aggravated traffic congestion as more than 30,000 vehicles enter and leave the airport every day.