HCM City to build more roads to ease congested south hinh anh 1Heavy traffic on Kenh Te Bridge connecting HCM City’s districts 4 and 7. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City (VNS/VNA)
- A proposal to build a north-south axial road in HCM City running through districts 4, 7 and Nha Be through a public-private-partnership (PPP) has been approved by the municipal People’s Committee.

Rapid population growth in districts 7 and Nha Be and the presence of Hiep Phuoc Port have given rise to dense traffic flows into the city’s downtown areas.

The traffic is choking major roads like Nguyen Van Linh, Nguyen Thi Thap and Nguyen Huu Tho.

According to the Urban Transport Management Division No 2 belonging to the city Department of Transport, heavy traffic also flows from ports in districts 7 and Nha Be to Cat Lai Port in District 2 through the Phu My Bridge to My Thuy intersection.

Traffic congestion is a recurring problem for roads such as Nguyen Thi Thap, Nguyen Huu Tho and Huynh Tan Phat as these roads’ intersections are clogged during rush hours.

According to the city’s transport department, to cope with the rising pressure from development and traffic growth, Kenh Te Bridge linking districts 4 and 7 is being widened.

For the long-term, more infrastructure projects, including the north-south axis road which would connect the beltways with other roads, are required to ease traffic problems in the area, he said.

When completed, the axis road would also link beltways No 2, 3 and 4 with ports, export processing zones and industrial parks not only in HCM City but also in the Mekong Delta, he said.

The Phuong Anh Investment, Construction and Trading Company Limited is one of two bidders for the PPP work.

It wants to build the Nguyen Van street – Ba Chiem Bridge section of the axial highway in return for around 1,200ha of land in the Hiep Phuoc Urban Area in Nha Be district.

The other investor, who wants to build the Hoang Dieu-Nguyen Van Linh section, eyes 188.2 ha of land in Nha Be’s Phuoc Kien commune as payment.

The People’s Committee has told the two bidders to begin pre-feasibility studies within six months.-VNS/VNA
VNA