According to the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City, Ho Chi Minh City has taken over the management of national highways passing through the area from the Ministry of Transport, including National Highway 1, National Highway 1K, National Highway 22, National Highway 13 and National Highway 50.
However, National Highway 13 from Nguyen Xi Street (Binh Thanh District) to Binh Phuoc Intersection (Thu Duc City) and National Highway 50 from Nhi Thien Duong Bridge (District 8) to Nguyen Van Linh Street (Binh Chanh District) are located in the inner city area, with high urbanization density, but are still included in the list of national highways, leading to difficulties in naming.
According to regulations, routes in the national highway system are named by the Ministry of Transport, while urban and provincial roads are decided by the Provincial People's Council.
Therefore, the HCMC Department of Transport has proposed that the HCMC People's Committee recommend that the Ministry of Transport classify the two sections of National Highway 13 and National Highway 50 as urban roads, helping HCMC to be more convenient in naming roads.
National Highway 13 is being considered by Thu Duc City and proposed to be renamed "April 30th Street" to commemorate the 50th anniversary of national reunification (April 30, 1975 - April 30, 2025).
Meanwhile, National Highway 50 (a nearly 11km section from Nhi Thien Duong Bridge (District 8) to the Long An border) has been given a new name by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports, Van Tien Dung Street, to commemorate the Commander of the Ho Chi Minh Campaign and former Minister of National Defence.
National Highway 13 is currently over 140km long, connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc, and is the main artery at the eastern gateway. The section through Ho Chi Minh City with its high traffic density and narrow roads, only 4 to 6 lanes, has become a "bottleneck" causing serious congestion, while on the Binh Duong side, this route has been expanded to 6-8 lanes.
To improve traffic conditions, Ho Chi Minh City is preparing to expand the 5.9 km section of National Highway 13 from Binh Trieu Bridge to the Binh Duong border, from 53 m to 60 m, with a total investment of nearly VND 14,000 billion under the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model.
Ho Chi Minh City is also implementing a project to expand National Highway 50 by 7 km through Binh Chanh district, increasing the width from 8 m to 34 m, with a total investment of 1,500 billion VND.
