Recently, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee officially started the project to build 5 new routes passing through the Phu Tho racetrack (District 11), invested by the District 11 Construction Investment Project Management Board, with a total cost of 200 billion VND. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
According to the records at the site, the 48ha land, previously the venue for the most vibrant horse races in Ho Chi Minh City, has now been fenced off to serve the infrastructure construction work.
This is one of the first steps in implementing the project to build 5 routes through the Phu Tho racetrack area.
These routes play a role in connecting main traffic axes such as Le Dai Hanh, Ly Thuong Kiet, Lu Gia and Ba Thang Hai with a planned project road system inside the land.
The opening of these routes not only helps increase traffic connectivity in the central area but also creates a foundation for the development of sports complexes in the future.
In terms of scale, each route is from 100m to more than 600m long, with a cross-section of 13m to 32m wide. Depending on the characteristics of each route, the roads will be designed with 2 to 6 lanes, meeting the increasing traffic needs of local people and serving major sporting events well.
Since Phu Tho Race School closed in 2011, this land has been used as a sports field, becoming a familiar training ground for people with many football, tennis and other sports fields.
According to the plan, when the routes are completed, Phu Tho racetrack will become a part of the sports complex to serve the 2026 National Sports Festival, while also playing the role of an important connecting infrastructure for the city center.
Built by the French in 1932, Phu Tho was the only horse racing school in Saigon and Vietnam at that time, attracting many participants. This is also one of the largest races in Asia before 1975. The horse racing activities continued until 2011 when they closed according to the decision of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee.
