No vehicles on the new road, congestion still surrounds the old road
On April 19, 2025, Ho Chi Minh City officially exploited the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting route, more than 4 km long, 6 lanes wide, opening a new connection to Tan Son Nhat airport's T3 terminal and hoping to reduce traffic congestion on Cong Hoa and Truong Chinh streets.
Recent records show that the number of vehicles traveling on the new route mainly comes from the direction of 18E and Phan Thuc Duyen to enter Station T3 or to Truong Chinh Street. On the other hand, there are times when there is no sign of danger, only a few vehicles are left.
Meanwhile, old roads such as Cong Hoa and Truong Chinh are still congested, especially during rush hour. Cars and motorbikes jostle each other little by little.
One of the reasons why the billion-dollar road has not been effective is due to the lack of direct connections from the main routes.
Currently, vehicles from Truong Chinh - Cong Hoa cannot turn left onto the new route due to being blocked by the median strip.
To get to this connecting road, people have to move along the roundabout, through routes such as Hoang Hoa Tham, 18E, causing inconvenience and time-consuming.
Inadequacies in traffic organization in the T3 terminal area
The area in front of the gate of Terminal T3 currently has many bottlenecks in traffic organization. At the toll station at the entrance, there are 14 car lanes but only 11 lanes allow right turns, 3 lanes for two-way turns have not been put into use.
Therefore, vehicles leaving T3 station must turn right towards Hoang Hoa Tham, then around if they want to turn onto 18E Street or to the city center.
However, because the road from the toll station to Road 18E is only about 20 m long, many drivers have ignored the instructions and illegally turned around to save time. This causes conflict with the straight line of vehicles, posing a potential risk of accidents.
On the way to T3 station, the situation did not improve. According to the current organization plan, only cars are allowed to walk under the overpass to enter the main gate of Terminal T3, while motorbikes are forced to go up the bridge and then go down to the parking lot.
However, many motorbikes did not comply, driving in the wrong direction for a short distance to avoid going around, creating a chaotic scene.
Traffic organization will be adjusted to " remove bottlenecks"
Faced with the above situation, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction has coordinated with the City Police, the Traffic Safety Committee and representatives of Tan Son Nhat Airport to discuss and agree on some adjustments to clear traffic and reduce traffic conflicts.
Adjust the 6-lane section of the entrance to the main gate of T3 station into a two-way street: 5 lanes for cars entering the station and 1 lane for motorbikes going from inside. Motorbikes trying to enter the T3 terminal must still go to the overpass as prescribed.
At the toll station area, the new plan will increase the number of lanes allowed to turn left to 10, reducing the right turn to 4 lanes. At the same time, add a hard median strip to separate the flow, reducing collisions.
In addition, the units also consider removing a median strip opposite C2 road - right in front of the gate and the T3 parking lot to open an additional left turn from the road under the overpass to the T3 station.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction also directed the Road Traffic Infrastructure Management Center to study the plan to open the Cong Hoa - C12 intersection, helping vehicles from Cong Hoa Street (from Truong Chinh Street) to turn left onto the road connecting Tran Quoc Hoan to Terminal T3. This solution is expected to be completed in June 2025.
