HCMC – The government of Long An Province yesterday, August 1, proposed the Government consider developing the second phase of the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway by adding four more lanes to ease traffic overload on the road.
The phase-one expressway has a total length of 61.9 kilometers, with the section passing through Long An nearly 23 kilometers long. The phase one cost almost VND10 trillion in investment funded by the State budget, with six lanes including two emergency lanes. The road has become overwhelmed as over 50,000 vehicles use it a day.
The expressway has seen an upsurge in vehicles since toll collection was suspended in 2019. Meanwhile, its designed capacity has no longer been able to meet the demand, thereby slowing down traffic speeds to around 60-70 kilometers per hour and leading to regular traffic congestion.
The Government is speeding up the development of expressway projects such as My Thuan-Can Tho, Can Tho-Ca Mau, Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang in the Mekong Delta in the 2021-2025, thus putting greater pressure on the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway.
In addition, after the Trung Luong-My Thuan Expressway was put into service and linked to the HCMC-Trung Luong Expressway, the latter has been increasingly overwhelmed by a higher number of vehicles.
Therefore, the Government should consider building the phase-two expressway as soon as possible to ensure traffic safety, enhance the connectivity between HCMC and the Mekong Delta, improve the efficacy of the north-south expressway project, meet the demand for socioeconomic growth, and lessen traffic congestion facing the route, the Long An government said.
