In the early morning of April 26, many local residents eagerly came to take part in the grand opening of 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.
Nguyen Cong Tinh, a regular user of Vo Van Kiet Boulevard, happily shared that it used to take half an hour travelling on various streets to reach Ton Duc Thang Street. Now that the new parallel route is open to the public, he only needs less than 5 minutes to arrive at the destination.
Started on May 21, 2021, the construction project of a 670-meter 2-lane parallel route to Vo Van Kiet Boulevard was supposed to finish in January 2022. However, the unexpected outbreak of Covid-19 hindered it. When the new normal status began, the localities immediately resumed the work. With an investment of VND70 billion (US$3 million), this route is able to help address traffic congestion, increase the urban beauty of the neighborhood, and become one key factor in the Bus Rail Transit, River Bus Route No.2 in the future.
Attending the grand opening ceremony of the street, Vice Chairman of HCMC People’s Committee Vo Van Hoan stressed that the street plays the role to increase traffic safety as well as connections between the district and other areas, to improve the environment status and urban beauty, which will all lead to better living standards for the local and lively economy in general.
He also asked that related state agencies keep the good status of the street via regular maintenance. Simultaneously, they should speed up the progress of other traffic projects in the area like building the new Thi Tran Road in Thoi Tam Thon Commune, upgrading Nguyen Anh Thu Street, Nguyen Van Bua Street, the parallel route to Phan Van Hon Street. They will improve traffic in the Northwest gate of HCMC, ready to link to Ring Road No.3 and HCMC-Moc Bai Expressway in the future.
Luong Minh Phuc, Director of the Management Board of Traffic Investment and Construction Projects in HCMC, commented that last year was a special year in HCMC, when the municipal authorities approved several key projects for upcoming traffic projects in the near future such as the traffic infrastructure construction project in HCMC until 2030, the public transport development project to control private vehicles, the seaport toll collection project.
Mr. Phuc shared that in the next few years, there are 8 traffic project groups to complete in priority order, the first fourth of which are:
1. Completion of Ring Roads No.2 and No.3, HCMC – Moc Bai Expressway
2. Launch of a series of projects to address congestion in the neighborhood of Tan Son Nhat International Airport
3. Launch of a series of projects to address congestion in the neighborhood of Cat Lai Port
4. Completion of the traffic system for the highly interactive, innovative urban area in the East of HCMC.
