How to propose to 'unblock' the beltway 2 project in Ho Chi Minh City?

TPO - Ho Chi Minh City needs more than 30,000 billion VND to complete the completion of Ring Road 2. Currently, relevant authorities are making efforts to resolve problems to speed up the project's progress.

The Department of Transport of Ho Chi Minh City has just reported to the City People's Committee on investment projects to build a closed Ring Road 2 of Ho Chi Minh City.

Proposal to 'remove obstacles'

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, the investment preparation work for the Ring Road 2 project is being carried out in the context that the Vietnam Railway Authority is adjusting the Railway Network Planning for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050, and the Planning of railway routes and stations in the Ho Chi Minh City hub area.

On the Ho Chi Minh City side, the Projects to adjust the Ho Chi Minh City Master Plan to 2040, vision to 2060 and the Thu Duc City Master Plan to 2040 are also being completed.

Therefore, the study of the investment scale of the Ring Road 2 project needs to be associated with the proposed contents of the above-mentioned planning adjustments and supplements.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, for metro line 6, the proposed route on the Ring Road 2 section (Phu Huu Bridge - Pham Van Dong) still has many disadvantages: it cannot connect with Binh Thai station on metro line 1 (already built); the route crosses different level intersections (Binh Thai intersection, Ring Road 2 - Pham Van Dong intersection), and requires complicated technical requirements.

The Department of Transport has coordinated with consulting units to locally adjust the direction of metro line 6 to overcome the above shortcomings.

How to propose to 'unblock' the beltway 2 project in Ho Chi Minh City? photo 1

Section 3 of Ho Chi Minh City's Ring Road 2 is under construction. Photo: PHAM NGUYEN

For elevated route No. 5 along Ring Road 2, the Department of Transport proposed to add to the related planning the open criteria: "During the research and investment project preparation process, depending on each route section, the option of an underground route can be considered, ensuring technical requirements and economic efficiency".

For the two National Railway sections, mainly related to the construction project of section 2, the Transport Department has not yet agreed on the options with the Vietnam Railway Authority, and has not yet completed and submitted the Feasibility Study Report.

In order to ensure the speed of appraisal, in which priority is given to determining and unifying the project's occupation boundary, as a basis for implementing Compensation projects, the Department of Transport recommends that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee assign the Department of Planning and Architecture to preside over and coordinate with relevant units to study the Department of Transport's proposal on the adjustment contents related to metro line 6 and the elevated road along Ring Road 2 mentioned above; organize updates to related planning projects.

Based on the research results and agreement between units on the above planning related contents, the Traffic Department is assigned to urgently complete the dossier, determine the boundaries of the project occupation, send it to the Department of Transport, as a basis for reporting to the City People's Committee for approval to implement the Compensation and Site Clearance projects.

More than 30,000 billion VND needed to close Ring Road 2

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Transport, Ring Road 2 has a total length of about 64 km. Of which, about 50 km have been invested in construction and put into operation (including the 13.5 km section of National Highway 1A (from Go Dua to An Suong); the 13.5 km section of National Highway 1A (from An Suong to An Lac); the 12.4 km section along Nguyen Van Linh Street; the 11 km section from the intersection of Zone A to Phu Huu Bridge on Vo Chi Cong Street), with a scale of 6 to 12 lanes.

Currently, the Department of Transport is researching to implement investment projects to close the Ring Road 2 with a total length of 14 km remaining, including 4 sections. Of which, section 3 (from Pham Van Dong Street to Go Dua intersection) with a length of 2.7 km has been deployed since 2017 under the BT (build - transfer) contract, with a total investment of more than 2,700 billion VND. However, the project has only reached 44% of the construction volume and has temporarily suspended construction.

Currently, the departments are continuing to remove difficulties for this section. If the difficulties are resolved, section 3 will complete site clearance in 2024 and complete construction in 2025.

For the remaining 3 sections (sections 1, 2 and 4) with a total length of more than 11 km, the HCMC Department of Transport said that it needs more than 30,000 billion VND to implement. Of which, the cost of compensation and site clearance is up to 21,821 billion VND, accounting for about 2/3 of the total investment.

Specifically, section 1 (from Phu Huu bridge to Vo Nguyen Giap street, Thu Duc city) is 3.5 km long, with a total investment of about 9,328 billion VND. The project was approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council in 2023. Currently, Thu Duc city is carrying out site clearance compensation work, expected to start construction in December this year.

Section 2 (from Vo Nguyen Giap Street to Pham Van Dong Street, Thu Duc City) is 2.8 km long, with a total investment of about 4,543 billion VND. This project is also expected to start construction in December this year.

For section 4 (from National Highway 1A to Nguyen Van Linh Street), the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has assigned the Department of Transport to prepare a pre-feasibility study report. However, this section has not yet been allocated capital in 2024 to carry out project investment preparation work.