Ho Chi Minh City plans to pour over 30 trillion Vietnamese dong (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) into building flyover bridges, expanding roads, and constructing an elevated road to minimize traffic congestion at the gateway to its overloaded international airport Tan Son Nhat, the municipal Transport Department said Saturday.

The airport is located deep in inner Ho Chi Minh City with only one gateway on Truong Son Road, and its maximum capacity is to serve 26.5 million passengers a year. It is predicted to serve over 30 million passengers this year.

Among the potential projects totaling over 30 trillion Vietnamese dong, a project is expected to be implemented in 2017 to build a 9.5-km elevated road linking Tan Son Nhat international airport with the city's center, with investment of 15-16 trillion Vietnamese dong (around 695 million U.S. dollars).

The new road is forecast to open to traffic after three years of construction.

Source : XINHUA