$38-mln HCMC – Dong Nai expressway parallel route left unfinished

The three-kilometer route, to the rightmost of the photo, was built along the expressway linking Ho Chi Minh City and its neighbor Dong Nai Province in 2017.

The project cost VND869 billion ($38.2 million) and was initially scheduled for completion after two years. However, it remains on hold with around 80 percent completed.

Built under the build-transfer (BT) format, the project comprises two sections: a 2.7-kilometer one to link Mai Chi Tho Boulevard and Do Xuan Hop Street in Thu Duc City and a 600-meter one to connect D11 Street in Thu Duct with Ring Road No.2, which will connect Thu Duc City and districts 7, 8, 12, Binh Tan, Hoc Mon and Binh Chanh to help ease chronic traffic congestion by preventing container trucks passing through inner-city areas.

The project also includes three bridges, drainage, and lighting systems.

One of the bridges, Ba Dat, stretching 129.5 meters long near An Phu Intersection, has been basically completed but with no connecting roads built.

Construction work below the bridge has turned into a pond.

Wild grass and water covers both sides of Ba Dat Bridge.

Local people have turned the area on one side of Ba Dat Bridge into a landfill.

One kilometer away from Ba Dat, Muong Kenh Bridge of 359 meters long has been basically completed.

Building materials and machinery lie scattered next to Muong Kenh Bridge.

Locals have used the area under the bridge to keep their cows.

The road leading to Muong Kenh Bridge is being completed.

Workers level a section near Do Xuan Hop Street in Thu Duc City.

The parallel route is built with the purpose of easing pressure on An Phu Intersection in Thu Duc City and boosting the investment progress for projects to serve the relocation plan for Thu Thiem New Urban Area.

But as the route remains unfinished after five years, vehicles from downtown HCMC still have to gather at An Phu Intersection.

A representative from the municipal Transport Department said obstacles related to site clearance and land fund payment procedures for the BT contract have caused the delays.