Director of Vietnam Expressway Services Engineering Joint Stock Company (VECE), the managing entity of the Ho Chi Minh City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway, said that at 9:30 a.m., the expressway was fully open to traffic following several days of repair work on the expansion joints of the Long Thanh Bridge. The repairs were completed two hours ahead of the originally scheduled reopening time of noon.
The early reopening is expected to solve severe traffic congestion that has persisted for more than 10 days, particularly over weekends, significantly impacting commuter travel and freight transportation in the region.
The 55-kilometer Ho Chi Minh City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway is a strategic traffic route that has become overloaded after nearly a decade of operation. The swift completion of repairs and timely reopening represent a significant effort by the managing authority and relevant agencies, helping to ease traffic pressure on the eastern gateway of Ho Chi Minh City.
Since July 15, VECE has been conducting repairs on the expansion joints of Long Thanh Bridge, necessitating the closure of one lane in the direction from Dong Nai to Ho Chi Minh City and imposing speed restrictions. This has caused a long traffic jam, severely affecting people's travel, especially on weekends.
To alleviate traffic pressure, VECE collaborated with relevant agencies and traffic police to guide alternative routes, including National Highway 1, National Highway 51, the Cat Lai ferry, and the Vung Tau–Can Gio sea ferry, helping people have more options.
In response to the severe traffic congestion, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction has worked directly with VECE to speed up progress. The early completion has helped restore normal traffic flow and minimize disruption to residents and vehicles using the expressway.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Construction also announced that it will submit a document to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City requesting infrastructure management units not under the management of the city to coordinate with each other and obtain approval from Ho Chi Minh City before undertaking construction projects, especially on key transportation routes, to prevent a recurrence of severe congestion like at Long Thanh Bridge recently.
The Ho Chi Minh City – Long Thanh – Dau Giay Expressway is seriously overloaded. To meet increasing traffic demands, VECE is expected to start construction to expand the section from Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 2 to the Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway intersection in August. Meanwhile, the segment from the An Phu interchange to Ring Road 2, managed by Ho Chi Minh City authorities, is also scheduled for expansion within this year.
The four-lane Ho Chi Minh City–Long Thanh–Dau Giay Expressway was inaugurated in 2015, serving as a key traffic route connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the Southeastern provinces and the Central Highlands region. However, after nearly a decade of operation, the expressway is under significant pressure from increasing traffic volumes, necessitating comprehensive and long-term infrastructure solutions to ensure safety and traffic efficiency.
