Expressway to beach city Phan Thiet sees 2 km tailback as long holiday starts

Traffic congestion on Dau Giay - Phan Thiet Expressway on the direction from HCMC towards Phan Thiet, Sep. 1, 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Phuoc Tuan

There was an increasing number of vehicles moving from HCMC-Dau Giay Expressway into Dau Giay-Phan Thiet at around 10 a.m., inch by inch.

Traffic was clogged over two km outside a toll fee station in Dong Nai Province.

Low traffic was seen on the other direction.

Hung from Binh Duong Province that borders HCMC was driving his family to Mui Ne, a popular beach town in Phat Thiet. He had anticipated that it would take two hours, but given the heavy traffic, he said they might arrive after four hours.

"There should be more lanes at the toll station, or there will be traffic jams every holidays and weekends," Hung said.

The Dau Giay – Phan Thiet Expressway opened to traffic in April, stretching 99 km through Dong Nai and Binh Thuan provinces. With the new route, it will now theoretically take around two hours to travel by car without traffic from HCMC to Binh Thuan's Phan Thiet, which is known for its beaches and sand dunes. The trip previously took five hours.

Vietnamese are celebrating a four-day National Day break from Friday to Monday.

Many HCMC entrances saw increased traffic flow on Friday but no heavy congestions.