The Ministry of Transport and the government of the southern province of Dong Nai, where the Long Thanh International Airport project is being developed, have announced plans to develop five expressways leading to the airport.

HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway will be the key road connecting HCMC and Long Thanh International Airport 

Apart from the already operational HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, the other expressway projects include Ben Luc-Long Thanh, Phan Thiet-Dau Giay, Dau Giay-Lien Khuong and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau.

It takes half an hour to travel from HCMC to Long Thanh District in Dong Nai Province on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway, which is some 40 kilometers long.

However, there are two traffic congestion hotspots on the expressway, including one at An Phu Intersection in District 2 and another at an interchange with National Highway 51, prolonging the travel time to Long Thanh District.

A two-level interchange project has been scheduled for An Phu Intersection to curb the traffic jams there. In addition, HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway can be expanded to six lanes from the current four lanes.

The Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressway project is also under construction and is expected to be completed by 2020. When the expressway is opened to traffic, air passengers travelling from the Mekong Delta region to Long Thanh International Airport and vice versa will not need to pass through HCMC, thus reducing traffic congestion.

The Bien Hoa-Vung Tau expressway project is also expected to link to the airport.

Moreover, the HCMC government has proposed developing a light railway between Thu Thiem New Urban Area in District 2 and Long Thanh International Airport. There will be metro lines linking Thu Thiem with other districts of the city and Tan Son Nhat International Airport, thus facilitating traffic from HCMC to Long Thanh International Airport and the south as a whole.

As part of the first phase of the Long Thanh International Airport project, the feasibility report is being produced as scheduled and is expected to be completed by the end of this month, according to the Ministry of Transport.

SGT