HCMC – The municipal government of HCMC has tasked HCMC Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) with preparing a study for an elevated road project to be developed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, with total investment for the project expected to reach some VND30 trillion (US$1.3 billion).
Specifically, CII was required to make the project proposal within six months using its own budget. If the project proposal is unfeasible, is not approved by competent agencies or remains uncompleted in the given six months, it would mean that the company refuses to join the study of the project and has to cover the costs spent on making the study.
According to CII, the elevated road will start from the intersection of Cong Hoa and Truong Chinh streets and run along Bui Thi Xuan Street, Alley No. 656 on Cach Mang Thang Tam Street, Bac Hai Street, Ly Thai To Street, Nguyen Van Cu Street, and Ong Lon Canal, before ending at Nguyen Van Linh Street. The route will be 14.1 kilometers long and 30 meters wide. The elevated parts will have four lanes and a width of 16 meters.
The road will combine with parts of the planned elevated roads No.1, 2 and 3 to form a north-south urban axial system. Also, the route will connect with the Ring Road No.2 to link the inner city with the city’s outlying areas as well as the northern part of the city, including Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Binh Tan, Go Vap districts and District 12, and the Tan Son Nhat International Airport area with downtown HCMC.
Earlier, IDICO Infrastructure Development Investment JSC had proposed using its budget to study the first phase of the elevated route No.5 project under the BOT contract. This 21.5-kilometer-long route was planned to have four lanes, starting from the Station 2 intersection in Thu Duc City and ending at the An Suong intersection in District 12, with total investment exceeding VND15.4 trillion.
Besides, the elevated route No.1 project, which should connect Cong Hoa Street, Lang Cha Ca, Dien Bien Phu to the Thu Thiem 1 bridge, is some 9.5 kilometers long and requires over VND17 trillion in investment.
The elevated route projects No.1 and No.2 are considered among major components of the city’s traffic system and are expected to help reduce traffic congestion at intersections.
According to the city’s transportation master plan approved by the prime minister, the city would complete the construction of five elevated roads with a total length of 70.7 kilometers by 2020 at the latest. However, since the city outlined a plan in 2005 to build these elevated routes until now, it has yet to start work on any of them.
