Binh Duong Province has 29 large industrial parks with over 35,000 domestic and 3,500 foreign invested firms which are operating. However traffic congestion has regularly occurred in major roads in the province.
According to the Logistics Association in the province, it takes about 10 hours to transport goods over the distance of 30km from Binh Duong based industrial parks to HCMC located seaports. Logistics costs account for 30-40 percent of product price.
Highway 13 linking HCMC up to Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc Province is one of traffic jam spots which has not been cleared for years. Traffic congestion has been worst in the 10km stretch from Binh Phuoc Crossroads in HCMC’s Thu Duc District to Binh Duong’s Thu Dau Mot City. A representative of a Korean invested firm in Binh Duong said that narrow road is one of the biggest problem as it takes up to 2 hours some days to travel in this route.
Mr. Dien Quang Hiep, chairman of Binh Duong Furniture Association, said that traffic construction needs a farer vision. My Phuoc Tan Van Road plays an important role in interprovincial goods transport but it has been overloaded right after coming into operation with few lanes and many intersections.
Many localities in Binh Duong have proposed the provincial People’s Committee to soon complete traffic works to meet large goods trade demand and better connect with neighboring provinces and cities. In addition, they suggested developing waterway routes and investing in Sai Gon – Loc Ninh railway to reduce pressure for roads system and improve regional connectivity.
Recently, Binh Duong Province People’s Committee has sent a document to Dong Nai Province People’s Committee proposing a capital plan to build Bach Dang 2 Bridge spanning across the Dong Nai River to link Bach Dang Commune, Tan Uyen Town, Binh Duong up to Binh Loi Commune, Vinh Cuu District, Dong Nai.
According to the proposal, Binh Duong will give an advance to build the bridge and Dong Nai will refund its capital part after the work is built. In addition, Binh Duong has been developing a river transport system and studying construction of harbors in rivers in Tan Uyen and Ben Cat towns to meet the transport demand of over 1.7 million tons of goods and over six million passengers in 2025.
In Dong Nai Province, the Prime Minister has assigned the provincial People’s Committee to implement the project to build Cat Lai Bridge connecting District 2 in HCMC and Nhon Trach District in Dong Nai according to a proposal by the province. It is expected the bridge’s construction will start at the end of this year with the total capital of VND10.69 billion (US$458,000).
In addition, Road 319 is scheduled to be built at the end of this year to boost socioeconomic development in Nhon Trach District as the road travels through most of industrial parks in Nhon Trach, connects with HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay and Ben Luc-Long Thanh expressways as well as Phuoc An and Cat Lai Seaports.
Highway 51 connecting Bien Hoa City and Vung Tau City has been overloaded, the number of vehicles traveled through T2 toll station still reached 35,869 a day in the first four months of 2020 despite impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, and it is 3.6 times design capacity. The number even hit 40,718 vehicles a day in February when traffic congestion regularly occurred raising pressure on transport firms. Hence Bien Hoa-Vung Tau Expressway project should be implemented soon to share pressure for Highway 51 and prevent severe traffic jam from happening in this route as Long Thanh International Airport Project is about to start construction.
Aside from the above works, the Prime Minister has assigned HCMC to implement HCMC-Moc Bai Expressway which connects the city and Tay Ninh province according to proposals by the ministry and the two localities. The expressway is expected to ease traffic jam in the northern gateway to HCMC and help lure investment to districts in the eastern part of Tay Ninh such as Trang Bang and Ben Cau.
