Cat Lai ferry is congested for a long time due to highway repair, drivers struggle to wait hours to move

On July 17, the blocking of a lane for repairs on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway on the Long Thanh bridge section pushed traffic congestion to an alarming level. Many drivers tried to avoid traffic jams by Cat Lai ferry but could not escape the "slow-slow-in" situation, causing them to be tired and seriously affecting their work.

According to Lao Dong reporters in the Cat Lai ferry area, the flow of vehicles is still pouring in every day. A series of cars and trucks lined up for about 10 km waiting to cross the ferry, making many drivers feel frustrated because their work was affected.

A representative of the Youth Volunteer Ferry Management Enterprise said that the situation of crowded traffic has started in the past few days. The number of cars is doubling compared to previous days. Although 6 ferries (including 2 200-ton ferries and 4 100-ton ferries) are operating at full capacity 24/7, with one trip every 5-10 minutes, they are still not enough to meet the demand. The overload situation caused a line of vehicles to stretch for about 10 km at the beginning of the wharf on the Dong Nai side on Ly Thai To Street towards Ho Chi Minh City.

Mr. Pham Van Hung (45 years old), a driver who specializes in transporting goods from Dong Nai to Ho Chi Minh City, indignantly reflected: "This morning I planned to go on the highway but saw the newspaper was so congested that I had to turn around to take Cat Lai ferry. Those who are reluctant to come here have been 'stuck' for an hour, inching forward. Goods are urgent, but how can we keep up with the progress like this?"

Nguyen Van Tan, a passenger driver traveling from Long An to Ho Chi Minh City, sat drinking coffee waiting to relieve the congestion. Mr. Tan said that his colleague had traveled for 10 hours to Ho Chi Minh City, while he had waited for more than 3 hours but was still far from Cat Lai ferry. "I don't know how long I will wait to get to Ho Chi Minh City," he said.

To reduce the pressure in the ticket sales area, Cat Lai ferry staff had to stand about 300 m from the ferry terminal to sell tickets in advance to drivers, in order to save waiting time when the vehicle approached the ferry. However, this solution cannot completely solve the problem of prolonged congestion.

Previously, on July 14, Vietnam Expressway Engineering Services Joint Stock Company (VEC) announced the repair of the expansion joints at the location of pier P26 - Km12+907, Long Thanh bridge (left of the route) on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway. To serve this work, the construction unit will temporarily limit speed and narrow the lane at the construction site by implementing a barrier of 1/2 of the Long Thanh bridge surface.

The estimated construction time is about 15 days. In order to limit prolonged congestion, the authorities have instructed vehicles to find alternative routes. Specifically:

Route 1: Vehicles move onto the Ben Luc - Long Thanh - Truong Chinh road - Tran Phu road (road 319) - Ton Duc Thang - towards Cat Lai ferry (car and passenger car with less than 16 seats).

Route 2: Vehicles moving on National Highway 51 - Ton Duc Thang Street - towards Cat Lai ferry (car and passenger car with less than 16 seats).

Route 3: Vehicles moving on National Highway 51 towards National Highway 1 (Dong Nai Bridge), for passenger vehicles with more than 16 seats and large freight vehicles.