Vehicles travel on the Hoang Hoa Tham – Cong Hoa viaduct in Tan Binh district, the gateway to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran
HCMC authorities plan to ban motorcycles from a steel viaduct at the Cong Hoa – Hoang Hoa Tham intersection to ease traffic jams at Tan Son Nhat, the country’s largest airport.
The move is part of the city’s efforts to reduce pressure on traffic in the urban area surrounding Ho Chi Minh City International Airport.
This notion could particularly prove useful during the peak months of the holiday season, when the number of passengers passing through the airport could exceed more than 41 million people, a record number recorded in 2019 before the pandemic .
The two-lane Hoang Hoa Tham – Cong Hoa viaduct in Tan Binh district has been serving traffic for 10 years. Currently, cars and motorcycles are allowed on the viaduct leading to Tan Son Nhat Airport.
However, the viaduct is still very crowded.
City authorities have requested that Tan Son Nhat Airport implement a non-stop toll for cars entering and leaving the airport, and at the same time organize bus pick-up and drop-off stops to to reduce traffic jams at the front door.
As the country’s largest and busiest airport, Tan Son Nhat has a design capacity of 28 million passengers per year. In 2019, the airport welcomed 41.2 million passengers, exceeding 150% of its capacity.
Last year, the total number of passengers passing through Tan Son Nhat stood at more than 34 million, exceeding capacity by 22%.
At the airport, the T3 terminal project and a new road connecting Tran Quoc Hoan to Cong Hoa Street in Tan Binh district are under construction and expected to be completed next year, helping to ease long-standing traffic jams around the international airport.