Vehicles travel on the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway. VND11.5 trillion is needed to expand the expressway – PHOTO: LE ANH

HCMC – Some VND11.5 trillion is needed to widen a 24-kilometer section of the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway connecting HCMC and Long Thanh District in Dong Nai Province to eight lanes from the current four lanes, according to a preliminary report for the project.

In a report submitted to the Ministry of Transport, the project consultant Transport Engineering and Design Inc. South (Tedi South) proposed expanding the An Phu-Long Thanh section running from Ba Dat Bridge in An Phu Ward of HCMC’s Thu Duc City to an intersection with the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway in Long Thanh District, Dong Nai Province.

Of this, a 4.5-kilometer section from An Phu to Ring Road No. 2 will be widened by 4.75 meters each side so that the section’s width will reach 36 meters. The section will have a design speed of 100 kilometers per hour, Tuoi Tre Online newspaper reported.

Meanwhile, a 20-kilometer section from Ring Road No. 2 to the intersection with the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway will be expanded by 7.5 meters each side to increase the section’s width to 42.5 meters and will have a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour.

Tedi South also suggested building the Long Thanh 2 bridge on the same scale as the existing Long Thanh Bridge.

Of the total estimated capital, VND8.3 trillion will be used for construction, VND405 billion for site clearance and the remaining for backup and consulting and project management services.

The expressway expansion project will be executed from 2021 to 2025.

The first phase of the HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay Expressway with four lanes was put into operation in 2015. It has been overloaded, especially on holidays.

The 2019 statistics indicated that the number of vehicles on a section of the expressway from Long Phuoc Ward of HCMC to the National Highway 51 reached 52,410 passenger car units (PCU) daily, while the number rose to some 57,000 PCU on holidays and weekends. Meanwhile, it was designed to serve 44,000 units per day.

Therefore, the Ministry of Transport in late 2019 directed the expansion of the expressway to meet the travel demand, especially once the Long Thanh International Airport is in place, serving the socioeconomic development and ensuring national defense and security in the southern key economic zone.