Work on the interchange in the former Thu Duc City, expected to cost over VND3.4 trillion (US$138 million), began in December 2022 and was expected to be finished in April 2025.
Meant to clear what is a chokepoint at the city's eastern gateway, it covers a total length of 6.92 km and will be a three-tier interchange featuring a tunnel, two overpasses and a central roundabout.
It will ease access to the expressway leading to Long Thanh airport, now under construction and expected to be completed early next year.
As of late July the intersection had only been about 70% complete, and the contractor had to seek a revised deadline of December 2026, a full year behind the approved schedule.
HCMC chairman Nguyen Van Duoc last week instructed the HCMC Transport Works Construction Investment Project Management Board, which oversees the work, to speed up progress and complete it before Dec. 31 this year.
On Aug. 23 many of the components such as overpasses and approach roads remained incomplete with barely months to go for the original deadline.
At the intersection of Luong Dinh Cua Street, Mai Chi Tho Boulevard and the HCMC – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway, a two-way tunnel will connect the latter two with the entry and exit being on the Thu Thiem tunnel side of the boulevard.
The two overpasses will be a Y-shaped one connecting the three roads with the stem (the bottom of the Y) on Luong Dinh Cua and the other allowing a right turn from the expressway onto Mai Chi Tho en route to Hanoi Highway.
Not far from it is an underpass at the intersection of Dong Van Cong and Mai Chi Tho, which opened to traffic in June.
This tunnel, 450 meters long and 20 meters wide and with four lanes, cost VND342 billion. It too was delayed from the original deadline of September 2024 due to tardy pump installation.
Work has started on the overpass leading right from the expressway to Mai Chi Tho, narrowing the carriageway and causing frequent congestion, especially at the expressway entrance.
For the Y-shaped overpass only a few pillars have been erected so far, and portions of the site lack proper barriers.
The interchange includes some 24 bidding packages, covering construction, consulting, supervision, insurance, utility relocation, and landscaping.
Work on several items, such as the central tower, landscaping and lighting, remains in the design stage.
The city chairman has ordered the HCMC Transport Works Construction Investment Project Management Board to oversee the work more closely and impose penalties for tardy work.
The An Phu interchange is a key project meant to resolve years-long congestion at the eastern gateway.
Once completed, it is expected to ease the congestion and access to the expressway, a critical need when Long Thanh airport opens next year.
The airport, to become Vietnam's largest by far, is being built on 5,000 hectares at a cost of nearly VND336.630 trillion.
It will have a capacity of 100 million passengers and five million tons of cargo annually.
Phase one, likely to be finished in a few months, will give it a capacity of 25 million passengers.
It also marks an early step toward developing one of HCMC's main travel hubs, integrating major transport means like the HCMC–Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway, Ring Road 3 and proposed elevated metro lines to the airport and Nha Trang.
