Road construction turns traffic to Saigon airport from bad to worse

Vehicles struggle on Nguyen Thai Son Street near Tan Son Nhat Airport, along the construction site for three overpasses over a grand circle.

On Nguyen Kiem Street. “People are stuck here every morning when they go to work and every evening driving home. It was bad before the construction, now it’s just gonna be worse,” said a local woman.

An old man is surrounded by motorbikes on Pham Van Dong sidewalk. “There are so many vehicles you cannot ban them from driving on the sidewalk,” he said, referring to the city’s campaign to take back sidewalk to pedestrians.

It’s past the hours when motorbikes are allowed to use the car lanes on Pham Van Dong, but many motorbikes just have nowhere else to go.

The congestion proves very tiring.

Vehicles could only move a little bit more easily after 11 a.m. The overpasses, slated for completion in August, are hoped to ease this kind of traffic.