Truong Chinh Street is a vital traffic axis connecting the center of Ho Chi Minh City with the districts of Tan Binh, Tan Phu, District 12 and Hoc Mon district.
If the section from An Suong intersection to Cong Hoa has up to 10 spacious lanes, the section from Cong Hoa to Au Co is "bottlenecked", with only 4 lanes remaining. This difference causes frequent traffic congestion for a long time, especially during rush hour.
Not only from An Suong intersection, Bay Hien intersection is always full of traffic, but the opposite direction from the center to the suburbs is equally crowded. At peak afternoon, thousands of vehicles from the center of Ho Chi Minh City had to wait for 2-3 traffic lights to cross this less than 1 km road.
Similarly, the line of vehicles from Au Co, Tan Son Nhi, Tan Ky Tan Quy to Truong Chinh also had to follow a rear hundreds of meters long.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang (45 years old, living in Dong Hung Thuan ward, working in Saigon ward) said: "This road has haunted me for more than 10 years. One day, it takes nearly 45 minutes to go from Tan Ky Tan Quy to Bay Hien intersection, the traffic inches slowly, extremely tiring".
Since 2005, Urban Traffic Management Area No. 1 (now the Ho Chi Minh City Traffic Construction Investment Project Management Board) has established a project to expand Truong Chinh and Tan Ky Tan Quy streets, with an estimated cost of about 500 - 600 billion VND. However, due to lack of capital, the project was stalled.
By 2010, the total investment capital was adjusted to VND1,500 billion, then continued to increase to more than VND2,600 billion in 2017, of which the cost of compensation and site clearance accounted for more than VND2,232 billion.
Due to the dense population of the area, compensation and relocation are facing many difficulties, so both projects cannot be implemented.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction, the two projects to expand Truong Chinh and Tan Ky Tan Quy streets have been proposed to be included in the priority investment plan for the period up to 2030.
Truong Chinh Street (from Cong Hoa Street to Au Co, 765 m long) will be expanded from the current 10 - 12 m to 60 m, with a total investment of about VND4,500 billion, of which the cost of site clearance is about VND1,750 billion. Expected to be implemented from 2025 - 2028.
Tan Ky Tan Quy Street (from Cong Hoa Street to Le Trong Tan, 636 m long) will be expanded from 8 m to 30 m with 6 lanes, with a total investment of 1,600 billion VND, expected to be implemented in 2025 - 2027.
Along with expanding the road surface, the Truong Chinh - Tan Ky Tan Quy underpass is an important item in the Tran Quoc Hoan - Cong Hoa connecting road project (serving the connection of Terminal T3 of Tan Son Nhat airport).
The tunnel has a total length of 275 m, of which the closed tunnel is 35 m long, the open part on both sides is 120 m long on each side, the cross-section is 10.5 m for 2 lanes traveling in one direction from Au Co to An Suong. The total investment cost is about 450 billion VND.
However, the entire tunnel construction area is within the boundary of the Truong Chinh road expansion project, so site clearance cannot be separated but must be implemented synchronously. This makes the progress of the underpass completely dependent on the progress of the road expansion.
According to the plan of the Department of Construction, the Truong Chinh - Tan Ky Tan Quy underpass is expected to be completed before 2028, helping to ensure continuous traffic from Truong Chinh, Cong Hoa to C12, facilitating the connection of Station T3, while reducing congestion in the Northwest gateway area.
