HCM CITY — The Ministry of Defence has agreed to hand over land to HCM City authorities for construction of a flyover near Tần Sơn Nhất International Airport to prevent the constant traffic jams that occur there.

Other works planned to ease the traffic problems there include creating other entrances to the airport, build more roads leading to the airport in addition to the existing Trường Sơn  Street, build elevated roads, a monorail, and a metro route to the airport.

Though two flyovers have been built on Trường Sơn Street (leading to Tân Sơn Nhất Airport) and the road connecting Tân Sơn Nhất and Bình Lợi, the outer beltway and the first stage of the Nguyễn Kiệm – Nguyễn Thái Sơn Roundabout project have been opened to traffic, Trường Sơn remains severely congested.

The situation has not improved with the widening of Hoàng Minh Gíám Street in Phú Nhuận District l last month.

Transportation experts have said that Trường Sơn Street, the only way to reach Tân Sơn Nhất, is congested because it has to carry 30 million passengers a year besides a large number of local residents.

To mitigate the problem, the city Department of Transport has planned several works, including creating another entrance to the airport.

They include upgrades to and widening of Hoàng Hoa Thám Street and building a road connecting Trần Quốc Hoàn and Trường Chinh streets running parallel to Cộng Hoà Street.

According to the transport department’s Urban Transportation Management Unit No 1, the 783.5m long, 23m wide Hoàng Hoa Thám Street will be made a four-lane road at a cost of VNĐ254 billion (US$11.3 million).

A new entrance to the airport will be built on this road to take some of the traffic off Trường Sơn Street.

A feasibility study has been done for the construction of the road parallel to Cộng Hoà Street, but the city authorities are waiting for land to be transferred by the military management unit.

Awaiting foreign consultancy

The defence ministry has agreed to transfer 1,800sq.m of land used by the Military Hospital 175 to the city for construction of a steel flyover at the Nguyễn Thái Sơn – Nguyễn Kiệm intersection.

Meanwhile, construction of the civilian-military Terminal T3 on 286 Hoàng Hoa Thám Street by Ngôi Sao Việt Joint Stock Company has been approved. But it must wait until the airport expansion plan is completed by a foreign consulting company, the company said.

According to a transport department spokesman, the department proposed to use 7,400sq.m of land on Trường Chinh Street to widen it. The land has been obtained by removing 50 shops and three petrol stations.

Need to fix airport

A report on the expansion of the airport by the Ministry of Transport says demand for air transport in the Southern key economic zone is rising, accounting for 46 per cent of the total number of passengers in the country.

Last year, 32.5 million passengers flew through Tân Sơn Nhất Airport against a designed capacity of its two terminals of 28 million.

According to the transport ministry, the airport handles 40 per cent of all domestic and international flights to and from Việt Nam, and so delays and cancellations of flights would affect flight schedules and quality, and cause losses to carriers and risks to aviation safety.

The airport is expected to handle 38– 40 million passengers next year, rising to 43-45 million in 2020.

Plans are under way to build Long Thành Airport in Đồng Nai Province to ease the burden on Tân Sơn Nhất. — VNS