HCMC eyes two elevated roads to ease congestion

They are among 55 urgent traffic projects it has sought approval for in next year’s plans.

One of the roads, 9.5 kilometers long, will run from the Lang Cha Ca Roundabout in Tan Binh District near the Tan Son Nhat International Airport to Phu An Bridge in Binh Thanh District near the city's first metro line.

The VND17.5 trillion road is expected to ease congestion on roads leading to the airport and alleviate the rising transport pressure on the country’s economic hub.

The other elevated road, 21.5 km long, will start at Station 2 overpass in Thu Duc District and run along National Highway No. 1 to An Suong intersection in District 12. It is estimated to cost VND15.5 trillion.

According to the city’s transport development plan approved 15 years ago by the government, the city was to have built five elevated roads with a total length of 70.7 kilometers by 2020. But they remain on paper.

The department also wants to build a traffic cluster at Tan Son Nhat Airport, Can Gio Bridge connecting the outlying namesake district with the city center, and the HCMC - Moc Bai Expressway to neighboring Tay Ninh Province.

It has proposed that for the 55 urgent traffic projects, VND87.7 trillion should be provided by the government while VND68.6 trillion could be mobilized from private sources through private-public partnerships.

HCMC, which is seeking to transform itself into a smart city by 2020, has been struggling with traffic congestion for years, and has responded by investing heavily in metro routes.

It has more than 8.1 million vehicles, including 763,000 cars.