New bridge opened to traffic in Ho Chi Minh City to ease congestion

The construction of the bridge, which is one of the city’s key projects, is completed after 11 months.

Rach Chiec is 540.9 meters long, along with a 543-meter-long road section leading to the two ends of the bridge, located in District 9.

Investment amounts to VND871 billion (US$38.2 million).

According to the municipal Urban Traffic Management Zone 2, the bridge is open to motorbikes, cars, buses and trucks with a loading capacity of less than 3.5 metric tons.

The bridge is currently closed to high-capacity trucks as the management of the Saigon Hi-Tech Park, located in the neighborhood, are concerned that such vehicles may do harm to their own special-use roads.

The first vehicles are seen on the newly opened Rach Chiec Bridge. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Speaking at the inauguration, Le Van Khoa, deputy chair of the municipal People’s Committee, stressed that the bridge is one of the city’s principal projects and is part of the 70-kilometer Belt 2, which stretches from Nguyen Van Linh Street and links to the Eastern Belt.

The bridge connects the hi-tech park with seaports and the southern residential areas, helping ease traffic congestion and reduce road accidents, Khoa added.

The People’s Committee has also tasked the transport department with starting work on a project to build the My Thuy Traffic Point in District 2 in an attempt to alleviate traffic jams on Dong Van Cong Street leading to seaports.

The department has been urged to speed up another project to link Belt 2 sections spanning from the newly opened Rach Chiec Bridge to Pham Van Dong Street in Thu Duc District to complete the belt.

The committee also suggested that the Ministry of Transport assist the local government in building Belt 3, which stretches from Nhon Trach to the Thu Duc Traffic Point in another bid to mitigate traffic congestion.