Rach Mieu Bridge is congested, waiting for Rach Mieu 2 Bridge
Ben Tre - Rach Mieu Bridge often experiences congestion, Rach Mieu 2 Bridge is expected to reduce traffic pressure on the existing bridge.
National Highway 60 starts from Trung Luong intersection (My Tho city, Tien Giang province) passes through Ben Tre and Tra Vinh provinces and ends in Soc Trang city (Soc Trang province) with a length of about 115km. Because this route is much shorter than National Highway 1, vehicles traveling from Soc Trang City to Ho Chi Minh City or vice versa are given priority, causing traffic density on National Highway 60 to increase.
Meanwhile, on National Highway 60 near Rach Mieu Bridge, there are 2 car lanes in each direction, but when reaching Rach Mieu Bridge, there is only 1 lane left, forming a bottleneck at the foot of the bridge.
According to Lao Dong newspaper reporters, the Rach Mieu bridge has prohibited trucks with 3 axles or more from passing through this bridge at daily times. Specifically, the direction from Tien Giang through Ben Tre will be prohibited from 9am - 11am, and from 3pm - 7pm in the afternoon. The route from Ben Tre to Tien Giang will be banned from 3pm to 7pm. However, during rush hours, traffic congestion at Rach Mieu Bridge always occurs.
Mr. Nguyen Van Duc (residing in My Tho City, Tien Giang Province) - a resident living near Rach Mieu Bridge - said that Rach Mieu Bridge often experiences traffic congestion on weekends, especially during holidays and Tet, which is always in a traffic jam.
Some trucks move slowly, with a beef-picking speed, dragging the vehicles behind them to move slowly. In addition, the number of cars passing through here is also very large, especially at Rach Mieu Bridge as a bottleneck that often causes traffic congestion" - Mr. Duc said.
Mr. Cao Minh Duc - Director of the Department of Construction of Ben Tre province - said that because National Highway 60 is shorter than National Highway 1, vehicles traveling from Soc Trang to Ho Chi Minh City or vice versa often prioritize the choice, so traffic density is increasing.
It is expected that in September 2025, when the Rach Mieu 2 bridge project is completed and put into use, it will contribute to "sharing the fire" with the existing Rach Mieu bridge and solving the traffic congestion here.
As a regular person who travels through Rach Mieu Bridge to transport goods from Ben Tre to Ho Chi Minh City and vice versa, Mr. Huynh Van Ket (residing in Ben Tre province) suggested: "I hope that in the coming time, vertical and vertical expressways along with large river bridges in the Mekong Delta that are invested in need to ensure synchronous traffic infrastructure to effectively contribute to the socio-economic development of the locality, avoiding the occurrence of "bottlenecks", traffic congestion or potential risks to traffic safety".
Information from the Rach Mieu 2 Bridge Project Management Board said that the project has been completed over 85% ahead of schedule by more than 5%, while the main bridge - Rach Mieu 2 Bridge is exceeding the schedule by more than 15%.
The Rach Mieu 2 Bridge project has a starting point at the intersection between National Highway 1 and Provincial Road 870 in Chau Thanh District (Tien Giang Province), the end point connecting with National Highway 60 at the Ham Luong Bridge approach road in Ben Tre Province. This project has a scale of 4 lanes, a design speed of 80km/h, expected to be completed in 2025. The construction purpose of the Rach Mieu 2 bridge project will contribute to reducing traffic congestion at the existing Rach Mieu bridge.
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