Tay Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City - Connecting traffic, promoting development

After the implementation of administrative unit arrangement, Tay Ninh province and Ho Chi Minh City have a comprehensive traffic system connecting from many directions. In recent years, there have been many large and important traffic projects connecting the two localities, creating favorable conditions for travel, transporting goods and opening up new development spaces for the whole region. Along with that, traffic projects are being invested to connect the two localities.

Proposal for 9 road connection points

After reviewing, currently, Tay Ninh province and Ho Chi Minh City have 37 road connection points; of which 11 points are agreed by the two localities to prioritize investment in the period 2023-2025 (before the merger, Tay Ninh and Binh Duong had 2 connection points; Tay Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City had 2 points; Long An and Ho Chi Minh City had 7 points).

According to Mr. Dang Hoang Chuong - Deputy Director of the Department of Construction, up to now, 2 connection points have been completed:Provincial Road 826E (Tay Ninh province side) connecting Long Hau road (Ho Chi Minh City side) with a synchronized 6-lane road surface scale; Provincial Road 824 (Tay Ninh province side) connecting with Nguyen Van Bua street (Ho Chi Minh City side) with a synchronous 4-lane road surface.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City has a plan to expand Nguyen Van Bua street (from Giong intersection to TL9 bridge) and build the Lon bridge according to the approved plan (Resolution No. 33, dated April 18, 2025 of the People's Council of Ho Chi Minh City).

Meanwhile, according to the national railway network planning approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 1769, dated October 19, 2021, Tay Ninh province has 2 railway lines connecting with Ho Chi Minh City: Ho Chi Minh City-Tay Ninh railway line and the Ho Chi Minh City - Can Tho railway line.

Based on the actual situation, recently, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Ut issued a document proposing that two localities prioritize investment in 9 important road connection locations. Specifically, the new Northwest road and Provincial Road 823D. Tay Ninh province has invested in the Provincial Road 823D project, 14.2km long with a scale of 6 lanes/40m roadbed, expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Therefore, the province recommends that the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City soon invest in the new Northwest road to synchronously connect the two projects.

The second project is the extended Vo Van Kiet road and the Duc Hoa dynamic axis. The province recommends that Ho Chi Minh City soon invest in the extended Vo Van Kiet road to connect with the Duc Hoa dynamic axis to create an inter-regional traffic axis. Currently, the section adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City, about 4.7km long (Hai Son-Tan Do road), has been fully invested with 6 lanes and a scale of 33m. It is expected that Tay Ninh province will continue to invest in the remaining 23.5km section with a scale of 8-10 lanes, clearing 60m of land.

The third project is National Highway 50, currently Ho Chi Minh City has invested in a road with a scale of 4 lanes. Tay Ninh proposes that Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee support the province to invest in upgrading and expanding the road (from 2 lanes to 4 lanes) from the border of 2 localities to the center of Can Giuoc commune (about 5.2km long) according to the planning.

The fourth project is National Highway 50B, Tay Ninh proposes that Ho Chi Minh City invest in the section from the border with the province to Pham Hung street to synchronize the route with 3 bridges on the Provincial Road 827E and the road leading to those bridges.

The fifth project is Le Van Luong Street and Provincial Road 826C, the province proposed Ho Chi Minh City to soon invest in the new Rach Doi Bridge (409m long) and the rerouting section to the new Rach Doi Bridge (about 3km) connecting through Tay Ninh Province. Tay Ninh Province will implement the construction of the approach road to Rach Doi Bridg.

The sixth project is the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai Expressway, the People's Committee of Tay Ninh province has sent a document requesting Ho Chi Minh City to consider and support Tay Ninh province with the additional cost of Project Component 4 - Compensation, support, resettlement of the Ho Chi Minh City - Moc Bai Expressway Project through Tay Ninh province (about 1,806 billion VND), which has been agreed by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City.

The seventh project is Provincial Road 6 - Provincial Road 15 (road along the Saigon River) and Provincial Road 789. Tay Ninh is upgrading and expanding Provincial Road 789 with a scale of 6 lanes, 21.5m wide road surface, 22.5m wide roadbed, expected to be completed by the end of 2025; Recommend that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee prioritize upgrading and expanding the Provincial Road 6 route from the border with Tay Ninh province, through Provincial Road 15 connecting the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 3 (the road along the Saigon River) into the medium-term public investment portfolio for the period 2026-2030.

The eighth project is the Binh Duong - Tay Ninh dynamic axis (Bau Bang-Moc Bai), the province recommends that the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee invest synchronously in the route, investment phase 2026-2030; with a scale of 4-6 lanes, site clearance of 10 lanes, 62m. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee invests in the section from Binh Tay bridge to the Bac Tan Uyen - Phu Giao - Bau Bang dynamic road, 22.7km long. The Tay Ninh Provincial People's Committee invests from Provincial Road 784 to National Highway 22, which is 19.6km long.

The ninth project is Road and Bridge No. 1 (National Highway 56B), the province proposed to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to include Road and Bridge Project No. 1 in the medium-term public investment portfolio for the period 2026-2030; Ho Chi Minh City side invests in the connecting bridge and the road section about 0.5km long to the Provincial Road 744 intersection, Tay Ninh province side invests in the road section 9.4km long with a scale of 4-6 lanes, the clearance area of ​​31-40m.

Proposal to add railway and waterway

In addition to the above 9 connection points, the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee also proposed to invest in the Bau Bang - Moc Bai railway line. According to the Provincial People's Committee, this is a railway line with the potential to develop freight and passenger transport to support economic development associated with ecotourism on the Saigon River and Dau Tieng Lake, support industrial - logistics development in the area bordering Binh Duong province (now Ho Chi Minh City) and Moc Bai border gate economic zone, promote economic development of Ho Chi Minh City and Tay Ninh province in particular as well as the Southeast region in general; has been updated in the Southeast Region Planning for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050 approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 370, dated May 4, 2024.

The starting point of the line is Ben Cat ward, Ho Chi Minh City and the end point is Ben Cau commune, Tay Ninh province. The length of the line is about 57km; The section passing through Tay Ninh province is about 27km long; the section passing through Ho Chi Minh City is about 30km long; the track gauge is 1,435mm, double track, road surface is 12.5m, railway right-of-way is 40m.

The above railway line was previously included in the provincial planning for the period 2021-2030 by the two former provinces of Binh Duong and Tay Ninh (now Ho Chi Minh City and Tay Ninh province), with a vision to 2050, but has not been updated in the project to adjust and supplement the national railway network planning, the detailed planning project for the railway in the Ho Chi Minh City hub area. Therefore, it is recommended that the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the People's Committee of Tay Ninh Province coordinate and recommend that the Ministry of Construction and the Government update the project to adjust and supplement the national railway network planning (adjusting Decision No. 1769, dated October 19, 2021 of the Prime Minister) and update the detailed planning project for railways in the Ho Chi Minh City hub area (currently being planned by the Ministry of Construction).

In addition, for waterways, the province recommends that Ho Chi Minh City dredge the Saigon River to ensure the waterway transport flow from level III (existing) to level II (according to the planning) and exploit to serve the Ho Chi Minh City Ring Road 4 Project that is being invested in.

According to Mr. Dang Hoang Chuong, investing in connecting locations between Tay Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City is of particular importance, not only as a solution to remove infrastructure "bottlenecks" but also to expand the space for urban, industrial and service development for both localities.

From an economic perspective, connecting infrastructure helps shorten transportation time and costs, creating competitive advantages for businesses, strongly attracting domestic and foreign investment. Socially, new routes facilitate people's travel, access services, and improve the quality of life. At the same time, infrastructure connectivity also contributes to promoting regional connectivity, forming a complete urban - industrial - service chain, making the Southeast region the driving force for development of the whole country.

It can be said that each bridge and route not only has infrastructure value but is also the "blood vessel" that nourishes the economy, the knot that brings Tay Ninh and Ho Chi Minh City closer together in the journey of sustainable development./.

By Le Duc - Translated by Q. Thien