The newly debuted Thu Thiem 2 Bridge over Saigon River and Trung Luong - My Thuan Expressway are winds of change to the transport landscape in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's business hub.
Thu Thiem 2 Bridge, which spans Saigon River in the megacity to connect downtown District 1 with Thu Duc city on the outskirts, opened to traffic on Thursday following seven years of construction.
Work on the VND3.1 trillion ($134.9 million) bridge started in 2015, originally scheduled for completion in 2018, but funding and site clearance issues, together with social distancing due to the pandemic, had caused construction progress to drag on for four more years.
The cable-stayed, six-lane bridge is more than 1.4-kilometers long, with the length without access roads 886 meters and the main tower 113 meters high. The bridge is designed with a lifespan of 100 years and to withstand a magnitude 7 earthquake.
HCMC plans to build four bridges named Thu Thiem 1, 2, 3, and 4 over Saigon River to connect Thu Thiem Peninsula with downtown areas. The first two are already in service, while Thu Thiem 3 and 4 to be built before 2030 as planned. Thu Thiem Tunnel under the river opened to traffic in 2011.
On Wednesday, the Trung Luong – My Thuan Expressway, part of the only expressway connecting HCMC to the Mekong Delta, totally opened to traffic. The new 50-km section starts from Tien Giang province’s Chau Thanh district, which is the end of the HCMC – Trung Luong Expressway and ends in the province’s Cai Be district, connecting to National Highway 30.
The total investment for the new part with four lanes is more than VND12 trillion ($523.5 million). The new way partially opened to traffic for the Lunar New Year holiday in 2021 and 2022 to ease traffic pressure on other roads across Mekong Delta.
With both HCMC – Trung Luong and Trung Luong – My Thuan expressways in service, the travel time by car between HCMC and Tien Giang is cut to one hour 45 minutes from three hours previously.
On Tuesday, HCMC authorities opened to traffic the parallel route to Vo Van Kiet Boulevard, from its intersection with Nguyen Thai Hoc street to its intersection with Pasteur street in District 1. The total length is 670 meters, with two lanes. About $3 million in all was spent on the project.
On the same day, Dang Thuc Vinh street in Hoc Mon district opened to the public after upgrades, which made the 5.3-kilometer-long road a 30-meter-wide street. The upgrade project cost $30 million.