National Road 13 is the main gateway to the Northeast of Ho Chi Minh City, connecting to Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces. However, for many years, it has been a bottleneck due to its narrow width of only 6 lanes, passing through residential areas and often experiencing congestion.
The expansion of National Road 13 has been planned by Ho Chi Minh City for over 20 years, but due to administrative procedures and lack of funding, it has not been implemented.
After Resolution 98 of the National Assembly allowed Ho Chi Minh City to implement the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project on existing roads, in September 2023, the City Council approved the investment policy for the expansion of National Road 13 using this method.
Accordingly, National Road 13 from Binh Trieu Bridge to the border of Binh Duong Province (in Thủ Đức City) with a length of nearly 6km will be expanded to 53 – 60m, with a total investment of over 13,850 billion VND.
In addition to the above project, 4 other projects to improve major gateways will also be implemented in Ho Chi Minh City using the BOT model. Specifically:
National Road 1 in the Western gateway of Ho Chi Minh City, has been a major obstacle to transportation and economic connectivity between the city and the Mekong Delta region for many years.
The section of the national road in this area is currently 19m wide with 6 lanes, regularly experiencing congestion during holidays and Tet when a large number of people travel to the Western provinces and return to Ho Chi Minh City after the holidays.
To ease traffic congestion, National Road 1 (from An Lac to the border of Long An Province) with a length of 9.6km will be expanded to 8 lanes, with a total budget of nearly 12,900 billion VND.
At the Northwestern gateway, National Road 22 (from An Suong intersection to Belt Road 3) with a length of 9.1km will be expanded to nearly 40m, with a total investment of over 7,100 billion VND.
Two other projects to improve the Southern gateways of Ho Chi Minh City are the North-South corridor (from Nguyen Van Linh to Ben Luc – Long Thanh Highway) with a length of 8km, which will be expanded from 4 to 10 lanes, with a total investment of nearly 4,500 billion VND.
The Binh Tien Bridge and Road (from Pham Van Chi Road to Nguyen Van Linh Road) with a length of 3.2km and a width of 30 – 40m, will require a total investment of over 6,200 billion VND.
According to the Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, insufficient funding is the biggest obstacle that has prevented major roads and gateways in Ho Chi Minh City from expanding according to the planned schedules.
Currently, the budget only meets about 20% of the investment needs for transportation. Resolution 98 of the National Assembly has opened up a great opportunity for Ho Chi Minh City to diversify its methods of mobilizing resources for transportation investment.
Through a review by the Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City, there are 107 main road routes planned within the city that can be implemented using the BOT model under the new mechanism.
However, Resolution 98 only applies for a period of 5 years, so priority will be given to important and urgent projects with significant impacts.
After the City Council approved the investment policy, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued detailed plans to prioritize budget allocation for preparation work, land clearance, etc. Ho Chi Minh City also provided a detailed roadmap to encourage investment and accelerate the implementation progress.
The construction of the 5 BOT gateway projects is estimated to start in the fourth quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. It is expected that the projects will be completed and put into operation from 2027 to 2028.
When these projects are completed, not only will the gateways be improved, reducing traffic pressure within the city, but they will also enhance the effectiveness of major regional linkages such as Belt Road 3 currently under construction, Ho Chi Minh City – Moc Bai Expressway, and Ho Chi Minh City – Chon Thanh Expressway, which are planned for future investment.
