Ngoc Thien, 25 years old, an office worker in District 3, shared about his arduous journey. His house in Tam Binh Ward, Thu Duc City, is more than 10km from his company, but every morning, Thien spends more than an hour to get to work, half of which is just to travel 2km on Dinh Bo Linh Street.
“The traffic jam started at Binh Trieu 2 bridge, but that was just the beginning. The Dinh Bo Linh street behind was the real nightmare,” Thien sighed. As soon as he passed the old Mien Dong bus station, Thien was caught in a dense stream of vehicles, moving slowly bit by bit. Motorbikes squeezed into every space, while buses and cars jostled and pressed against the curb. At the intersections, vehicles from other directions poured out, making the traffic situation even more chaotic.
After more than 30 minutes of jostling through the intersections of Dinh Bo Linh, Nguyen Xi, Chu Van An and Bach Dang, Thien was able to exit to Dien Bien Phu street to continue his journey. "It's like that every day, not to mention when it rains, the road is jammed, impossible to move" - Thien shared more.
Dinh Bo Linh Street is a vital route, connecting Thu Duc City with the center of Ho Chi Minh City. This is one of the main gateways of the city, connecting directly to National Highway 13. However, with a road surface of only about 21m wide, this route is always overloaded, especially during rush hour.
The traffic on Dinh Bo Linh Street in the morning mainly comes from two main directions: Pham Van Dong Street and National Highway 13.
In addition, the number of vehicles from routes such as Nguyen Xi and Chu Van An also continuously enters, making the congestion more serious. In particular, vehicles from Bach Dang Street intersect in large numbers, causing vehicles on Dinh Bo Linh Street to wait for a long time at the red light at this intersection.
If you want to avoid Dinh Bo Linh Street, people can choose to go along Tam Vu Street after crossing Binh Trieu 2 Bridge to Ung Van Khiem Street, or Pham Van Dong Street to go through No Trang Long, Le Quang Dinh, Phan Van Tri... routes to the center of Ho Chi Minh City.
However, these routes are not only longer but also often congested during rush hour, making travel slow and time-consuming.
According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, expanding and upgrading Dinh Bo Linh Street is necessary to solve traffic congestion.
The Department of Transport has proposed upgrading and widening the section from Binh Trieu Bridge to Dien Bien Phu from 21m to 25m, and at the same time building a new Binh Trieu Bridge with 6 lanes, 560m long. The total investment for the project is up to 2,900 billion VND, of which the cost of site clearance and technical infrastructure relocation has accounted for about 1,400 billion VND.
In addition, the Department of Transport and the Department of Planning and Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City have also agreed to add an elevated road plan running along Dinh Bo Linh, from the Pham Van Dong intersection to Dien Bien Phu, to increase traffic capacity and reduce traffic pressure in the area.
