It needs investment plans and resources to expand the roads linking the city with the gateway area.
For many years, National Highway No.13 has been full of vehicles, especially the section running through Thuan An City in Binh Duong Province and Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City, due to the high demand for travel. According to preliminary statistics, about 50,000 vehicles pass through this route every day.
During peak hours, the number of vehicles sharply increases; it is one of the key causes of traffic congestion, particularly in major intersections such as Binh Phuoc T-junction in Hiep Binh Phuoc Ward, Thu Duc City, Vinh Binh Bridge, and the border area of Thuan An City.
In order to reduce the risk of accidents, residents are waiting for an increase in the number of bus routes.
Ms. Nguyen Viet Trang, 32, who is residing in Binh Thanh District in HCMC, said that it takes nearly two hours to travel from her house to the workplace in the new Binh Duong City by private vehicle. Meanwhile, there is currently only one bus route, No. 61-6, between HCMC and Thu Dau Mot City, Binh Duong Province, but passengers must wait a long time.
Similarly, there are almost no buses running the entire National Highway 1K, the major route linking Thu Duc City and Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai province, which leads to an increase in the number of private vehicles, exacerbating traffic congestion during peak hours.
Waiting for road expansion
To address the traffic congestion at major intersections, the functional departments of Binh Duong Province have implemented several traffic control measures on National Highway No.13, including adjusting the traffic flow of two-wheeled vehicles from Binh Duong Province to An Suong Intersection in District 12 and Binh Phuoc Intersection in Thu Duc City, HCMC.
At the BOT toll station in Vinh Phu Ward of Thuan An City, Binh Duong Province, the functional units have installed barriers to regulate traffic in front of Tan Hiep Phat Company, which has partly alleviated the vehicle congestion at the Vinh Phu BOT toll station.
Upgrading and expanding National Highway No.13 not only facilitates connectivity between Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, and other provinces in the Southeast region and the Central Highlands, but it is also a long-awaited project for the local people. Since 2022, Binh Duong Province has started works on expanding National Highway No.13 and expanded it from 4 to 6 lanes. The project is expected to be completed in 2025.
Ho Chi Minh City is also accelerating the preparation for the project to upgrade and expand National Highway No.13. It is one of the five BOT (build-operate-transfer) projects in the city's gateways that are hoped to clear decades-old chronic bottlenecks at the city's gateways. The project has been implemented in accordance with Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on piloting a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of the city. It is expected to be kicked off in 2026 and completed in 2028.
