According to Mr. Dang Huu Vi - Director of the Southern Expressway Management Board (Vietnam Expressway Corporation - VEC), the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway project has now reached about 85% of the construction volume.
Contractors are rushing to complete two important sections to meet the traffic opening schedule in November, including: the section from the Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong intersection to National Highway 1 (3.4km long) and the section from the Phuoc An intersection to National Highway 51 (Dong Nai) (6.1km long).
This is the third expressway connecting Ho Chi Minh City after the two routes Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay and Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong currently in operation.
As of October 18, the intersection between Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway and Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Expressway in My Yen Commune (Ben Luc District, Long An Province) has been basically completed and is ready for operation. The My Yen toll station with 10 lanes is also being installed and is preparing to be put into operation.
At the intersection between Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway and National Highway 1 (HCMC), the contractor has completed the construction of the roundabout and residential roads on both sides. The entrances from the expressway to National Highway 1 have been completed with asphalt, road markings and toll booths.
Speed limit signs and traffic guidance systems on the highway and off-ramp from Highway 1 have also been installed.
After the opening, vehicles from the West going to Ho Chi Minh City via Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong Expressway can turn onto Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway at My Yen intersection and then go to National Highway 1, instead of having to go through Binh Thuan intersection as before.
Conversely, from National Highway 1, vehicles can turn onto Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway to get on Ho Chi Minh City - Trung Luong expressway to the West.
However, at the beginning of the expressway, there are still more than 300m of road belonging to the Ring Road 3 project under construction by Long An province that has not been completed.
According to Mr. Tran Thien Truc - Deputy Director of the Department of Transport of Long An province, this section of the route cannot be completed until December 2024 due to the impact of heavy rain.
At the construction site inspection on October 16, Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan requested the Department of Transport of Long An province to speed up the construction progress to synchronize with the Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway section.
In addition to the two expressway sections expected to open to traffic in November, VEC also aims to exploit an additional 18.8km section from the National Highway 1 intersection to Nguyen Van Tao intersection (Nha Be district, Ho Chi Minh City) in the first quarter of 2025.
The Ben Luc - Long Thanh Expressway is 58km long, with a total investment of 31,300 billion VND, passing through Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City and Long An provinces. This route has a cross-section of 24m wide, including 4 lanes and 2 emergency lanes, with a maximum design speed of 100 km/h.
This is one of the largest expressway projects in the Southern region, expected to help reduce traffic pressure for Ho Chi Minh City and strengthen connectivity between the two key economic regions of the East and Southwest.
It is expected that the entire Ben Luc - Long Thanh expressway will be open to traffic by the end of 2025.
