HCM City to build more roads to unclog highly congested south

Heavy traffic on Kenh Te Bridge connecting HCM City’s districts 4 and 7.-VNS File Photo.

The road will have two distinct stretches, one from Hoang Dieu Street in District 4 to Nguyen Van Linh Street in District 7 and the other from Nguyễn Văn Linh to Ba Chiem Bridge in Nha Be District.

Rapid population growth in districts 7 and Nha Be and the presence of Hiep Phuoc Port have given rise to dense traffic flows into the city’s downtown areas.

The traffic is choking major roads like Nguyen Van Linh, Nguyen Thi Thap and Nguyen Huu Tho.

According to the Urban Transport Management Division No 2 belonging to the city Department of Transport, heavy traffic also flows from ports in districts 7 and Nha Be to Cat Lai Port in District 2 through the Phu My Bridge to My Thuy intersection.

Traffic congestion is a recurring problem for roads such as Nguyen Thi Thap, Nguyen Huu Tho and Huynh Tan Phat.

Local residents said the intersections of these roads are clogged from 3pm every day until the end of rush hour at 7pm.

According to Nguyen Van Toan, head of the department’s planning and investment division, to cope with the rising pressure from development and traffic growth, Kenh Te Bridge linking districts 4 and 7 is being widened.

For the long-term, more infrastructure projects, including the north-south axis road which would connect the beltways with other roads, are required to ease traffic problems in the area, he said.

When completed, the axis road would also link beltways No 2, 3 and 4 with ports, export processing zones and industrial parks not only in HCM City but also in the Mekong Delta, he said.

Investors seek opportunities

Phương Anh Investment, Construction and Trading Company Limited is one of two bidders for the PPP work.

It wants to build the Nguyen Van Linh Street – Ba Chiem Bridge section of the axial highway in return for around 1,200ha of land in the Hiệp Phước Urban Area in Nhà Bè District.

The other investor, who wants to build the Hoang Dieu-Nguyen Van Linh section, eyes 188.2 ha of land in Nha Be’s Phuoc Kien Commune as payment.

The People’s Committee has told the two bidders to begin pre-feasibility studies within six months.