Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway ready to be expanded

The project to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is one of the urgent projects aimed at creating momentum, serving socio-economic development strategies, and ensuring national defense and security.

Repair work on the expansion joint of Long Thanh Bridge on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway was completed on July 25. Photo: Le Van

At the same time, this is also a strategic project in connecting Long Thanh International Airport (airport) with Ho Chi Minh City, as phase 1 of this airport is expected to be put into commercial operation in the first half of 2026.

Project groundbreaking slated for August 19

The Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is approximately 55km long. Since 2015, phase 1 of the project has been put into operation with a scale of 4 lanes. For nearly 10 years, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway has played an important role in connecting Ho Chi Minh City with provinces in the Southern key economic region, contributing to reducing traffic pressure in downtown Ho Chi Minh City, National Highway 51, and promoting the development of urban areas and industrial parks along the route.

However, due to the rapidly increasing traffic volume, especially during peak hours and weekends, it has led to overload and localized congestion at the beginning sections, the Long Thanh Bridge area, and the National Highway 51 interchange.

According to the Vietnam Expressway Development Investment Corporation (VEC), the traffic volume on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway has increased by an average of more than 10.4% annually. To date, this expressway is already at full capacity, especially the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section, which has exceeded its traffic capacity. According to forecasts, when Long Thanh Airport Phase 1 is expected to be put into operation in the first half of 2026, the congestion will become more severe if the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh section is not soon invested in expansion.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Airports Corporation of Vietnam (ACV), Vu The Phiet, said that according to calculations, up to 80% of passengers arriving at Long Thanh Airport will need to travel to Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa. Meanwhile, the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway is the main connection route between Long Thanh Airport and Ho Chi Minh City in the initial phase of airport operation.

According to Dang Hoai Nam, Deputy General Director of VEC, due to the urgent need to expand the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section, the Government has assigned VEC as the investor of this project.

At the end of May 2025, the VEC Board of Members approved the investment policy for the project. Accordingly, the project has a length of nearly 22km. Regarding the project scale, for the section from the Ring Road 2 interchange to the Ring Road 3 interchange (Km4+000 - Km8+844.5), it will be expanded from 4 lanes to 8 lanes; the section from the Ring Road 3 interchange to the Bien Hoa - Vung Tau Expressway interchange, excluding the Long Thanh Bridge area (Km8+844.5 - Km25+920), will be expanded from 4 lanes to 10 lanes. As for Long Thanh Bridge, a new bridge unit will be built with a scale of 5 complete lanes in the direction from Ho Chi Minh City to Long Thanh, to the right of the existing bridge.

"Currently, the project has been included in the list of projects that will be started on August 19," said Dang Hoai Nam.

Dong Nai will accelerate site clearance progress

In the decision approving the investment policy, VEC has divided the project into 3 component projects, including: Component project 1, the expansion of the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh expressway section, with VEC as the governing body and investor; Component Project 2, compensation, support, and resettlement for the section passing through Ho Chi Minh City, implemented by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee; and Component Project 3, compensation, support, and resettlement for the section passing through Dong Nai province, implemented by the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee.

According to Dang Hoai Nam, for the section passing through Dong Nai province (from after Long Thanh Bridge to the intersection with Bien Hoa - Vung Tau expressway), in phase 1, land clearance was carried out with a width of 63m. However, to comply with the regulations in Clause 3, Article 10 of Decree No. 165 dated December 26, 2024, of the Government detailing and guiding the implementation of a number of articles of the Road Law and Article 77 of the Road Traffic Order and Safety Law, an additional 3m of land clearance is required on each side from the boundary already cleared in phase 1 of the project.

"Preliminary statistics from the consulting unit show that the total area of land needed for clearance in Dong Nai province to implement the project is over 4ha," said Dang Hoai Nam. Dang Hoai Nam also said that the consulting unit is currently preparing the land clearance dossier for the project.

Recently, at a working session with the Provincial People's Committee to implement land clearance for the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh Expressway Expansion Project, Provincial Party Committee member and Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Ho Van Ha stated that the area of land needed for clearance to serve the project's construction is not large. Therefore, Dong Nai proposed that VEC issue a document clearly indicating the areas and locations that need priority for early completion of land clearance so that the province can request relevant agencies and localities to quickly implement it.

By Le Van/Translated by Mai Nga-Hong Trang