Nguyen Van Linh Street and Phu My Hung residential area could face congestion and pollution after the overpass section connecting Phu My Bridge and Nguyen Van Linh Street is finished.

Phu My Bridge opens to traffic on September 9, 2009.

According to the Phu My Bridge BOT JSC, Nguyen Van Linh Street and Phu My Hung residential area in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 7 could face heavy congestion and pollution after the overpass section that connects Phu My Bridge and Nguyen Van Linh Street is finished.

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After the second beltway is completed, vehicles from central and eastern provinces heading to western provinces will mainly travel on Nguyen Van Linh Street.

It was originally hoped that opening Nguyen Van Linh Street would solve traffic jams in the inner city, and serve as an important roadway connecting central, eastern, and western provinces.

Accordingly, the last section of the Phu My Overpass, which is expected to finish on April 1 this year, will cross the intersection of Nguyen Van Linh and Nguyen Luong Bang streets.

However, there are dozens of intersections in this area heading west. In particular, in the section that passes through the center of Phu My Hung residential area, there are several crossroads very close by. Thus, with a sudden influx of vehicles, these intersections could see major traffic congestion.

In addition, Nguyen Van Linh Street will also see a large increase in the number of trucks and container lorries from Hiep Phuoc Port. Heavy traffic will divide the residential area as Nguyen Van Linh Street will become the main road in the city’s southern area.

Originally, residential areas were not to be constructed near the beltway. The distance between homes and the road was to be at least 100 meters, with green spaces and noise-proof walls included. In fact, however, numerous homes have since been built near Nguyen Van Linh Street.

Experts say the city failed to foresee all consequences of road projects in the area and that residents will suffer as a result.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association, said the city should build more overpasses or tunnels at intersections around Nguyen Van Linh Street to deal with the congestion.

VietNamNet/SGGP