After 10 days of full operation, the Ben Luc Long Thanh Expressway had carried nearly 260,000 vehicles and helped reduce pressure on the Ho Chi Minh City Long Thanh Dau Giay Expressway.
On October 12, Nguyen Thi Hoai Phuong, deputy director of the Vietnam Expressway Technical Services Joint Stock Company (VEC E), said that nearly 260,000 vehicles travelled on the entire Ben Luc Long Thanh route from October 1 to 10. The road carried an average of 25,000 to 26,000 vehicles a day. The highest figure was recorded on October 9, when nearly 29,000 vehicles used the expressway.
At the same time, traffic on the Ho Chi Minh City Long Thanh Dau Giay Expressway showed a decline. During the same period, the route carried nearly 700,000 vehicles, down by more than 9% from the previous month.
The figures show that the Ben Luc Long Thanh Expressway is helping distribute traffic across existing routes and providing another travel option between Ho Chi Minh City, southeastern Vietnam and the provinces of the Mekong Delta.
Le Van Huy, a resident of Long Khanh in Dong Nai, often travels from Dong Nai to the Mekong Delta provinces. He said that he previously spent more than two hours travelling through Ho Chi Minh City's congested urban roads. Since the Ben Luc Long Thanh Expressway opened, the route has become less congested and travel time has fallen considerably.
Many tourist-bus drivers travelling from the Mekong Delta to Vung Tau, Phan Thiet and Mui Ne have also chosen the route to save time and transport costs. Direct connections between the economic regions have made short trips between the Mekong Delta, Ho Chi Minh City and the southeastern coast easier.
The nearly 58-kilometre Ben Luc Long Thanh Expressway runs through Long An, Ho Chi Minh City and Dong Nai. It has four motor-vehicle lanes and two emergency stopping lanes. The full route opened on October 1, creating a direct connection between the Mekong Delta and southeastern Vietnam without requiring drivers to pass through central Ho Chi Minh City.
Sources: Dân Trí
