This is part of the North-South axis road project, one of five key projects to upgrade and expand existing roads under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model, promoted by Ho Chi Minh City thanks to the special mechanism from Resolution 98.
Currently, Nguyen Huu Tho Street has a large amount of traffic every day, especially during rush hours, there is always congestion and long traffic jams.
The most serious traffic jam is the road from Phuoc Kien Nha Be intersection to Nguyen Van Linh street.
Mr. Nguyen Kim Han (Nha Be district) - a trader on Nguyen Huu Tho street - said that traffic jams happen almost every day, especially during rush hour.
"This road only has two lanes in each direction, while the number of vehicles is high, so traffic jams often occur. Hopefully, when the construction of the underpass at the Nguyen Van Linh - Nguyen Huu Tho intersection is completed, this traffic jam will decrease," said Mr. Han.
Mr. Nguyen Van Xuan (Nha Be district) also said: "Every day around 7-8am, when driving near Nguyen Van Linh intersection, I get stuck and can only move slowly. On some days when the traffic is so heavy, it takes more than 20 minutes to get through this section of road," Mr. Xuan shared.
Nguyen Huu Tho Street, from Nguyen Van Linh intersection to Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway, has a total length of 8.6 km. During the pre-feasibility study, the consulting unit considered two upgrade options.
Option 1 is to build a low-level road, including 10 lanes and overpasses at intersections, with a total investment of about 7,423 billion VND. However, this option will cause many traffic conflicts due to intersections with the inner city and difficulty in improving connections with areas along the route.
Option 2 is to build a 7.8 km long elevated road with 4 lanes, combined with a parallel road with 3 lanes on each side below. At the same time, build a new Nguyen Van Tao intersection with Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway.
This option has a total investment of VND8,483 billion, higher than the low-speed option, but will help inter-regional traffic be seamless, fast and improve traffic connectivity with areas along the route.
The consultant proposed to choose option 2 because it is more effective in reducing congestion, increasing inter-regional traffic capacity and better connecting with the areas on both sides of the road.
With a total project investment of VND8,483 billion, of which about VND6,304 billion (accounting for 74%) will be mobilized from BOT capital, the remaining VND2,179 billion from the Ho Chi Minh City budget to clear the land, build parallel roads and Nguyen Van Tao intersection connecting with Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway.
It is expected that the project's pre-feasibility study report will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024 and submitted for approval, for implementation from 2025 to 2028.
