On September 4, Vietnam Expressway Engineering Services Joint Stock Company (VECE, the route management unit) warned about the inevitable risk of traffic congestion when part of the bridge was barricaded for repair work.
According to VECE, the main cause of the repair is a broken rail at the expansion joint at pier P20, located on the bridge section from Dong Nai to Ho Chi Minh City.
If not promptly remedied, this incident can cause serious dangers, threatening the safety of the project and vehicles traveling on the route.
Therefore, from September 5, VECE will deploy barriers on half of Long Thanh bridge to repair expansion joints, lasting 18 days.
According to VECE, Long Thanh Bridge has only 2 lanes for each direction, and has a large slope, so traffic congestion often occurs, especially on weekends, holidays or when an incident occurs.
The barricades for repairs will narrow the lanes, leading to the risk of more serious congestion, especially on the Long Thanh to Ho Chi Minh City route.
To minimize the impact of the repair on traffic, VECE said it will coordinate with the Traffic Police, construction contractors and related units to synchronously deploy solutions to ensure traffic safety and labor safety throughout the construction process.
At the same time, this unit also recommends that drivers follow traffic information through VOV Giao Thong channel and other mass media to choose appropriate routes to avoid traffic jams.
Vehicles from Dau Giay to Ho Chi Minh City can go straight along National Highway 1 to Ho Chi Minh City or turn right at branch B of National Highway 51 intersection to move through Vung Tau Intersection and continue the journey to Ho Chi Minh City.
For vehicles traveling from Phan Thiet to Ho Chi Minh City, the recommended route is to turn right at branch B of the National Highway 51 intersection after passing the toll station, or move to Dau Giay toll station and continue along National Highway 1 to Ho Chi Minh City.
Vehicles from National Highway 51 to Ho Chi Minh City can go straight along National Highway 51 to Vung Tau Intersection and continue their journey.
The Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway, with a total length of 55 km and a scale of 4 lanes, was put into operation in 2016. Traffic volume on this expressway is continuously increasing, an average of nearly 12% per year, so it is often congested.
It is expected that by 2026, when Long Thanh airport comes into operation, traffic pressure on this highway will increase even more strongly.
In that context, the expansion of the expressway is being studied with the option of expanding the section from the Ring Road 2 intersection (Thu Duc City) to the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway intersection to 8 - 10 lanes.
This expansion project has a total investment of nearly 15,000 billion VND. If approved, it will be implemented and completed by the end of 2027.
