Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway, nearly 58km long, started construction in 2014 with a total investment of 31,300 billion VND, is a national key project.
This route plays an important role in connecting Long An, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and connecting with the strategic transportation network including: seaport, Long Thanh airport, and major national highways.
When completed in 2025, the expressway will help reduce congestion on National Highway 1 and National Highway 51 and shorten travel time from Long An to Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, contributing to promoting the development of the Southern Key Economic Zone.
The nearly 25km long expressway section through Ho Chi Minh City will be connected through three major intersections.
Recently, the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City has approved the investment task for the Rung Sac road intersection in Can Gio district.
The units will conduct surveys and collect data from related projects such as Can Gio Bridge and Rung Sac Road, and analyze the socio-economic situation and traffic volume in the area. These data will serve as the basis for a pre-feasibility report to be submitted to competent authorities for consideration and approval of the investment policy. It is expected that this intersection will have a total investment of about VND 2,400 billion.
In addition, two other major intersections are being studied for investment, the connection point with National Highway 50 in Binh Chanh district and Nguyen Van Tao street in Nha Be district.
At the intersection with Highway 50, the overpass was designed with only 4 lanes, while the current Highway 50 expansion project has a scale of 6 lanes. This difference could cause a "bottleneck" situation, affecting traffic.
To fix this, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) will adjust the design to ensure 6 lanes for the overpass, in line with the National Highway 50 expansion project.
However, according to the Ministry of Transport, capital to implement additional items from sponsors or VEC's own mobilization is very difficult to achieve at the present stage.
Therefore, the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway interchange with National Highway 50 will continue to be implemented according to the scale of phase 1, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will complete the investment later with separate projects, with an estimated investment of about 573 billion VND, implemented from 2024-2027.
Similarly, the expressway interchange with Nguyen Van Tao Street was only built on a phase 1 scale. The strong development of Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park has caused the traffic volume here to increase, leading to a high risk of congestion if only using the same-level interchange.
In the context of capital difficulties, VEC will continue to implement the phase 1 planning, while the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will invest in completing this intersection through a separate project.
The total investment for Nguyen Van Tao intersection is estimated at about 551 billion VND and is proposed to be integrated into the North-South axis road upgrade project (from Nguyen Van Linh to Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway), implemented under the BOT form from 2024-2027.
