On March 23, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport said it was urgently completing the feasibility study report to start the expansion of the North-South axis road (existent Nguyen Huu Tho Street), from Nguyen Van Linh Street to Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway.
The project has been approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council in the form of public-private partnership (PPP), BOT contract (build - operate - transfer).
Currently, the North-South axis road from Nguyen Van Linh Street to Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway is about 8.6 km long, and has been cleared along a 60 m road but only has 4 to 6 lanes.
When the project is completed, the road will be expanded to 10 lanes with two parallel roads with 3 lanes on each side, with a maximum speed of 60 km/h. On the elevated road construction route, 7.8 km long for 4 lanes, speed 80 km/h.
The project also completely constructs the intersection of Nguyen Van Linh Street and builds a new intersection with Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway.
At the same time, branches will be arranged on Rach Dia bridge, Kho B street, Pham Huu Lau street and Nguyen Van Tao street.
To ensure synchronous traffic, all 14 existing bridges on Nguyen Huu Tho Street will also be expanded.
The project has a total preliminary investment of about VND 9,894 billion, divided into 4 component projects.
Component project 1: Compensation and resettlement support in District 7 with a budget of 1,327 billion VND. 92 households in District 7 were affected, of which 19 households had to be completely relocated, and 73 households had their land partially reclaimed.
Component project 2: Compensation and resettlement support in Nha Be district with a budget of 18.8 billion VND, with 6 households partially cleared.
Component project 3: Complete construction of the intersection of Nguyen Van Linh Street and the intersection with Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway, with a total capital of VND 2,441 billion from the Ho Chi Minh City budget.
Component project 4: Upgrading and expanding the North-South axis road under the BOT form with a budget of VND 6,106 billion. The city plans to invest VND 891 billion (15%), the remaining 85% (VND 5,214 billion) is invested by investors.
According to the plan, component projects 1 and 2 will be implemented from the fourth quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2026.
Component project 3 will start construction in the fourth quarter of 2025, while component project 4 under the BOT form will start construction in the first quarter of 2026. The entire project is expected to be completed in 2028.
When put into operation, the route will only collect tolls for the elevated section, not parallel road fees. The exploitation and fee collection period is expected to last over 22 years.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, investing in expanding the North-South axis road not only reduces traffic pressure but also plays an important role in connecting key routes such as Ring Road 2, Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway.
The project also promotes the connection of Hiep Phuoc Port Urban Area with key industrial parks of Ho Chi Minh City and Long An.
