Vehicles on the East-West Highway in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Chanh District on Sep. 2

A new road through eight Ho Chi Minh City districts opened to traffic on Wednesday as city planners hoped traffic jams would be reduced as a result.

Construction began in April 2005.

The project will be expanded to a 21.89 km highway, including a tunnel that runs under the Saigon River to link districts 1 and 2. The road will include 10 bridges and 10 overpasses.

The project requires a total investment of US$660.6 million, $428 million of which is funded by ODA (Official Development Assistance) loans from Japan.

At the opening ceremony, Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Mitsuo Sakaba said he hoped the project would help reduce traffic congestion in Ho Chi Minh City.

Sakaba added that he also wished for the project to contribute to the socio-economic development of the southern economic hub.

The East-West Highway, once completed, would connect HCMC with other provinces in the Southern Focal Economic Zone, the city People’s Committee’s Chairman Le Hoang Quan said at the ceremony.

The project also will help transform the area along the Tau Hu- Ben Nghe canal into a scenic landscape, Quan added.

Phu My Bridge

Later on the same day, the committee and Phu My Corporation inaugurated the Phu My Bridge, which links districts 2 and 7, after more than two years of construction.

From September 9 to December this year, the 2-km bridge would be open for motorbikes and cars with seven seats or fewer before opening to larger vehicles.

Wednesday’s bridge opening came four months earlier than expected and other surrounding road projects are not yet completed.

The Phu My Bridge, designed by French company ACARDIS and Australian company CARDNO, is a cable-stayed bridge with the two largest cable planes ever used in Vietnam, Quan said at the ceremony.

The bridge will help reduce the amount of traffic passing through the urban core of HCMC, Quan said, adding that the bridge would be one of the first major structures crossing the Saigon River.

The VND2 trillion ($112 million) project is a joint effort by the city’s People’s Committee, the Phu My Bridge Corporation and Germany’s general contractor Bilfinger Berger (BBBH).

Reported by Van Khoa