VietNamNet Bridge – More flyovers and tunnels will be built in HCM City to reduce traffic congestion, the city’s Department of Transportation has said.

An Suong crossroads after upgrading. – Photo graphic courtesy of HCM City Department of Construction

Though the city has many traffic circles, it has a fewer number of tunnels. Traffic interchanges that include both flyovers and tunnels are seen as the best solution to reduce traffic congestion.

Existing traffic circles cannot control the volume of vehicles, causing regular traffic jams, according to the department.

The city’s People’s Committee has assigned the Department of Planning and Architecture to re-design all traffic interchanges and report on those that need flyovers or both a flyover and a tunnel

Many plans to build flyovers and tunnels are already underway.

Nguyen Van Tam, deputy director of the city’s Department of Transportation, was quoted in Sai Gon Giai Phong (Liberated Sai Gon) newspaper as saying that the city had decided to change part of the Binh Trieu Road and Bridge 2 Project and will build a tunnel in addition to a traffic interchange at Dai Liet Si crossroads.

In Binh Thanh District, land clearance activities for the Dai Liet Si traffic interchange to Dien Bien Phu Street are now being carried out, with the aim of building a tunnel and widening the road.

The project is expected to solve the traffic burden at the northeast gateway of the city.

The tunnel will be 450m long and 9m wide. A feasibility plan to build the tunnel has been created and it is set to be completed in 2019.

In other areas, construction of tunnels has begun.

At the An Suong crossroads in District 12, construction of a tunnel is underway, with total capital of over VND510 billion (US$22.3 million).

This is a two-way tunnel which runs along Truong Chinh Street and National Road No 22.

When finished in 2018, the An Suong crossroads will become a traffic interchange that will include a flyover, traffic ring and tunnel, all of which are expected to reduce traffic jams in the city’s northwest gateway.

Near Cat Lai Port in District 2, construction of the My Thuy traffic interchange is progressing quickly. The first phase of the project will include construction of a tunnel where vehicles can transit to Cat Lai Port.

In the second phase, the interchange will be completed and will contain a flyover, tunnel and traffic ring.

The tunnel, to be finished at the end of January, is expected to solve traffic congestion on Nguyen Thi Dinh and Dong Van Cong streets.

The city has also approved upgrading a traffic interchange at the crossroads of Nguyen Van Linh and Nguyen Huu Tho streets in District 7, with total capital of around VND2.6 trillion ($93 million). The project will include a tunnel and flyover.

A traffic interchange in the An Phu region in District 2 will be built with three levels, including a tunnel and flyover. The tunnel will connect HCM City, Long Thanh, and Dau Giay Highway with Mai Chi Tho Boulevard.

VNS