To reduce traffic congestion, the HCM City's Department of Transport has proposed building an elevated road stretching from Cộng Hoà and Trường Chinh intersection in Tân Bình District to Nguyễn Văn Linh Street in District 7.

HCM CITY — The HCM City Infrastructure Investment JSC (CII) has proposed building an elevated road stretching from the Cộng Hoà and Trường Chinh intersection in Tân Bình District to Nguyễn Văn Linh Street in District 7.

The elevated route was not included in the previous planning of the five elevated routes in HCM City.

The new elevated road will begin from the intersection of Cộng Hòa and Trường Chinh streets and run along Bùi Thị Xuân Street, Alley No. 656 on Cách Mạng Tháng Tám Street, Bắc Hải Street, Lý Thái Tổ Street, Nguyễn Văn Cừ Street, and Ông Lớn Canal, before ending at Nguyễn Văn Linh Street.

The 14.1-kilometer road will have four lanes and be executed under a public-private-partnership (PPP) with a build-operate-transfer (BOT) contract.

The project requires an estimated investment of VNĐ30 trillion (US$1.3 billion).

"The company wants to contribute to the development of urban infrastructure in HCMC, especially the development of new infrastructure models," Lê Quốc Bình, general director of CII said.

According to the city Department of Transport, due to the tight city budget, the proposed investment model is appropriate, so it suggested two plans to develop the project.

Under the first plan, the Department of Transport will coordinate with relevant agencies to prepare the prefeasibility and feasibility reports and hold a tender to choose the investors for the project.

As part of the second plan, the Department of Planning and Investment will require the investor to develop the project under the PPP format in line with the law.

While the metro system and other transport projects are still in progress, ring roads and elevated roads have almost been forgotten after 15 years of planning, experts have said.

Hà Ngọc Trường, vice president of the HCM City Port and Bridge Association, said that congestion is especially bad at intersections in big cities.

“Building more overpasses and tunnels can only reduce the pressure for a short time. For the long term, the construction of elevated roads is extremely urgent but it seems to have been neglected. Without elevated roads, it is difficult for the city to get rid of congestion,” he said.

Dr Vũ Anh Tuấn, director of the Việt Đức Transport Research Centre, said that priority should be given to elevated roads to deal with traffic gridlock.

“Without an elevated road network, congestion will worsen even though the city has tried to expand existing road networks or build new urban roads. Expanding existing roads results in high costs for site clearance compensation,” Tuấn said

HCM City can learn from other major cities such as Bangkok, Jakarta or Manila in building elevated roads. It is estimated that an elevated road system can improve average travel speed by 10-15 per cent, he added.

Under a plan in 2005 approved by the then Prime Minister, HCM City was expected to complete construction of a total of five elevated roads with length of 70.7km, which would be connected in high-traffic areas. However, since the plan, no elevated road has been built. VNS