On March 8, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport said it was urgently completing the pre-feasibility study report for the two important intersections connecting to the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway.
According to the plan, the investment policy will be approved in the second quarter of 2025, with construction progress starting from 2026 and completed in 2027.
Rung Sac Road is currently the only route connecting the center of Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai province and neighboring areas to Can Gio district. Currently, transportation to Can Gio mainly relies on waterways, causing many limitations in travel.
Meanwhile, National Highway 50 is a vital route connecting Ho Chi Minh City with Long An and the provinces in the Southwest.
The construction of these two intersections will facilitate connections between Ho Chi Minh City and localities, while helping to complete the inter-regional transport network when the Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway and Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 come into operation.
According to the proposal of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, the total estimated budget capital to invest in the intersection between Rung Sac Road and Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway is about 2,400 billion VND.
At the intersection with National Highway 50 (Binh Chanh District), the project initially only designed an overpass with 4 lanes, while National Highway 50 is being expanded to 6 lanes. This can lead to a situation of "bottleneck", affecting traffic.
To solve this problem, Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) will adjust the design and implement investment in the overpass on National Highway 50 and the approach road to ensure 6 lanes in sync with the National Highway 50 expansion project.
The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee will complete the investment at the National Highway 50 intersection with the expressway through a separate project, with an estimated cost of about 573 billion VND.
The Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway has a total length of nearly 58km, of which the section through Ho Chi Minh City is about 25km long. The project started in 2014 with a total investment of VND 31,300 billion.
Currently, two sections of the expressway have been put into operation, including: the section from the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway intersection to National Highway 1 (3.4km long) and the section from Phuoc An intersection to National Highway 51 (Dong Nai) 6.1km long.
It is expected that on April 30, an additional 18.8km of expressway from National Highway 1 to Nguyen Van Tao Street (Nha Be District, Ho Chi Minh City) will be completed and put into use.
The entire expressway is expected to be completed and opened to traffic on September 30, 2026.
When put into operation, this expressway will play an important role in connecting Long An, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai provinces with strategic transportation systems such as seaports, Long Thanh airport and major national highways.
The expressway also helps reduce traffic pressure on National Highway 1, National Highway 51, while shortening travel time between Long An, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.
