Removing last "bottleneck", Dong Nai riverside road project accelerated for completion

The last obstacle related to the realignment to preserve the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa (Ong Phu mansion inTran Bien ward) has been removed, and the Dong Nai Riverside Road Project will accelerate construction to be completed.

The Dong Nai riverside road project not only plays a role in connecting traffic but is also expected to create urban space and landscape, exploiting the advantages of the Dong Nai River.

The Dong Nai riverside road project aims to complete construction in October 2025. Photo: Pham Tung

Completing project and design adjustments in July

The Dong Nai riverside road project is one of the province's key works and projects. The project has a length of about 5.2km, started construction at the end of 2021, and is expected to be completed after about 2 years of construction. However, during the implementation process, the project was delayed due to difficulties in site clearance.

By the end of 2024, the project's site clearance was basically completed, and contractors accelerated the implementation progress. However, a new problem arose, affecting the progress of this project.

Particularly, in the planning of the Dong Nai riverside road, the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa would be cleared by about 9m, equivalent to about half of this building being within the project's planning scope. Meanwhile, the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa is a work with great cultural, historical, and architectural value. Many experts and scientists have suggested that the planning needs to be adjusted to retain this building for preservation.

In response to public opinion, the Provincial People's Committee assigned the Department of Construction to review and propose solutions for preserving the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa. The plan to "bend" the Dong Nai riverside road section passing through the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa area to preserve the building was approved for implementation.

To implement the plan to "bend" the Dong Nai riverside road and preserve the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa, it is necessary to partially adjust the detailed planning of old Buu Long ward, Tran Bien ward now, as well as adjust the project dossier. At the end of June 2025, the Provincial People's Committee issued a decision approving the partial adjustment of the 1/2,000 detailed planning of Buu Long Tourist and Residential Area, Buu Long ward (old), now Tran Bien ward, to implement the above-mentioned plan.

Nguyen Ton Trong, Director of Region 1 Project Management Board, said that after the Provincial People's Committee approved the partial adjustment of the 1/2,000 detailed planning of Buu Long Tourist and Residential Area in old Buu Long ward, Tran Bien ward now, the unit is implementing project and design adjustments to soon continue construction of the project section through the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa area.

"Project and design adjustments are being accelerated to be completed in July 2025," said Nguyen Ton Trong.

Efforts to complete the project soon

The Dong Nai riverside road project is expected to change the urban appearance of Tran Bien ward with the goal of creating an urban landscape space along the Dong Nai River.

According to Nguyen Ton Trong, with the last obstacle of the project related to the area passing through the ancient Vo Ha Thanh villa having been removed, the Region 1 Project Management Board is requesting contractors to accelerate construction progress to soon complete the construction work. The plan is for the Dong Nai Riverside Road Project to complete all construction work in October 2025.

Nguyen Dinh Long, Director of Van Nga Phat Co., Ltd., a member of the Project's construction joint venture, said that for the Dong Nai Riverside Road Project, the final section of the basic route has completed construction, with the second layer of asphalt concrete paving being laid. The initial section of the route is progressing slower due to late handover of the site. As for the section passing through the ancient villa area of Vo Ha Thanh, it had to be temporarily halted construction recently for authorities to carry out procedures for planning adjustments, project modifications, and "straightening" the route to preserve this structure.

"The contractor has prepared personnel and equipment, so that once the authorities complete the procedures, they will mobilize maximum forces to construct this section of the route to accelerate progress and complete the project soon," said Nguyen Dinh Long.

The Dong Nai riverside road project has a total investment of nearly 2 trillion VND, funded from the state budget. The project started construction at the end of 2021. About a year later, the Dong Nai River embankment construction project along the Dong Nai riverside road section with a total investment of over 613 billion VND was started. Currently, the Dong Nai River embankment construction project has been basically completed.

By Pham Tung/Translated by V.N-H.T