Ton That Thuyet Street - the route along Kenh Te connecting the center of District 4 formerly with the South of Ho Chi Minh City - has been narrow and degraded for many years. Now, this route is preparing to be expanded 4 times, building a new Nguyen Kieu bridge and a green park, after nearly a decade of "inactive soldiers".
The project to build, renovate and expand Ton That Thuyet Street and a green park along the Kenh Te bank has a total investment of VND 5,621 billion, of which the cost of compensation, site clearance and resettlement accounts for more than VND 4,100 billion, equivalent to 74% of the total investment capital.
The project affects 598 households, including 461 households that have been cleared and 137 households that have been partially cleared. Of which, Khanh Hoi ward has 28 households, Xom Chieu ward has 126 households (100 households were cleared, 26 households were partially affected), Vinh Hoi ward has 444 households (333 households were cleared, 111 households were partially affected).
According to the plan, Ton That Thuyet Street (from Road No. 1 to Truong Dinh Hoi Street) is more than 3.4 km long, and will be expanded from 7 m to 27 m, with a scale of 6 lanes. The project also includes the construction of a new bridge across Nguyen Kieu Canal (27 m wide), the renovation and expansion of the existing Nguyen Kieu Bridge to 25 m, the construction of a system of embankment protection of Kenh Te and Nguyen Kieu Canal, the arrangement of a boat mooring dock to serve inland waterway traffic, along with planned route No. 1, 185 m long, 28 m wide. The project will form a green park along the Kenh Te Bank, creating a community living space along the river for people.
According to the plan, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will submit to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council for consideration and approval of the project investment policy at the meeting scheduled to be held on November 14. If approved, the project will be implemented in the 2026-2029 period, in which the planning, compensation, and site clearance will be adjusted in 2026; construction will begin in 2027 and is expected to be completed and put into use by the end of 2028.
According to Lao Dong, Ton That Thuyet Street is currently only about 7 m wide, with sidewalks on both sides occupied for trading and repairing vehicles, many sections of the road are degraded, often flooded during the rainy season. The section across Nguyen Kieu Bridge is a traffic "bottleneck", with vehicles lined up every meter.
Mr. Tran Van Hoa, a small truck driver who often carries goods through this route, said: "There are traffic jams in the morning or afternoon, sometimes it takes 15 minutes to cross a bridge. If a new bridge is built and 6 lanes are expanded, traffic will be more smooth."
When completed, the expanded Ton That Thuyet route with synchronous technical infrastructure will connect smoothly through main axes such as Nguyen Khoi and Ben Van Don, reducing traffic pressure in the central area, while creating a new riverside park space - "green lungs" for the South of Ho Chi Minh City.
