A section in the National Highway 13. VNA/VNS Photo Huyền Trang

HCM CITY — Authorities are accelerating investment procedures to upgrade and widen Hàng Xanh–Bình Triệu and National Highway 13, one of HCM City’s key traffic routes linking the downtown area with the northern gateway through the two Bình Triệu bridges.

The HCM City Department of Construction said the project to upgrade National Highway 13, from Bình Triệu Bridge to the former border with Bình Dương Province, was approved by the municipal People’s Council on February 20, 2025.

The project is divided into two components: compensation, support and resettlement; and the expansion of the highway under a public–private partnership (PPP) in the form of a build–operate–transfer (BOT) contract.

The department is currently conducting surveys and preparing a feasibility study, which is expected to be submitted to the People’s Committee in December 2025. Investor selection is scheduled for the first half of 2026, with construction planned to begin in December 2026.

For the Hàng Xanh–Bình Triệu route, the city plans to implement two public investment projects. The first will upgrade and expand Xô Viết Nghệ Tĩnh Street from the Hàng Xanh intersection to Bình Triệu 1 Bridge.

The second project involves upgrading Đinh Bộ Lĩnh Street from Phạm Văn Đồng intersection to Điện Biên Phủ Street. The Department of Construction, in coordination with the city’s Transport Construction Investment Management Board and other relevant agencies, is completing documents to propose investment approval in December 2025, and work is also expected to start in December 2026.

Traffic congestion has been a persistent problem along the section from Hàng Xanh to Bình Triệu Bridge and National Highway 13, particularly at the Hàng Xanh intersection, the old Eastern Bus Station, and both ends of Bình Triệu Bridge.

Local residents have long hoped for the expansion of these routes to ease daily congestion and improve travel convenience in the northern gateway area. — VNS