Upholding the desire and aspiration to get Binh Duong to higher position, in over 23 years, generations of provincial leaders and local people have made great efforts to create the best values including the investments into complete traffic infrastructure as one of the major highlights of development.
I could recall my first time sitting on passenger transporting vehicles to Binh Duong in 2000. From National Highway 1A, the speed vehicles made a turn at Binh Phuoc crossroad (in Ho Chi Minh city), then, followed the National Highway No. 13 to Binh Duong. My first experience in Binh Duong on getting through the route was that the driver was working so hard to avoid rough roads or those vehicles from the other ends that could make me car-sick. From Vinh Binh Bridge, it took me 2 hours to get to Tru Van Tho commune (now Bau Bang district) before getting another turn to a dirt road leading to Tan Long commune of Phu Giao district.
My Phuoc – Tan Van Highway, the section passing through Di An city
Up to now, every time I had a chance to drive on National Highway No. 13, the old feelings come back to me although the roads have been upgraded to wider, cleaner and more beautiful streets.
Identifying National Highway No. 13 as a vital traffic route of provincial traffic system and as a lever for socio-economic development, Binh Duong provincial leaders, from the dates of provincial re-establishment, have decided to construct, upgrade and expand the route. The approval of central government in 2002 initiated the project of upgrading and expanding the section of National Highway No. 13 from central Ben Cat to Binh Phuoc crossroad and the provincial authority had promoted the constructions. In just a few years, the bumpy and less than 5-m roads were replaced by eye-catching streets of 16-24 meters wide with 6 lanes for convenient traffic.
To the present, the provincial authority, aside from the completion of innovation, upgrade and expansion of the section of National Highway No. 13 passing Binh Duong, started and completed other major traffic routes such as My Phuoc – Tan Van, Vanh Dai 4, Tao luc Bac Tan Uyen – Phu Giao – Bau Bang among others.
Under provincial expectations, the streets have strongly contributed to the traffic and transportation connection of inter-regions, making it easier and more cost-saving to travel or transport commodities to and fro Binh Duong and the neighboring provinces and cities.
Socio-economic development speed of Binh Duong province is getting higher as in recent years the major streets of the province have been overload with minor traffic jams. To share the burden of traffic and resolve the jams, provincial authority has paid attention to measures of transporting cargoes on waterways by planning and constructing 12 inner water harbors on Saigon River, Dong Nai River, and Thi Tinh River to join the services of other ports of Binh Duong, Thanh Phuoc, Thuong Tan, Thai Hoa, Tan Van, Ba Lua on an area of 226 hectares. The inner water harbors are expected to reduce the load of transportation of about 1.7 million tons of cargoes that have been a burden on roads.
The synchronization of waterway and road traffic has been effective and earned positive feedbacks. Particularly, enterprises have joined up the investments and expand their investments into BInh Duong as the inter-region travel and transportation has been much easier.
Reported by Dinh Thang – Translated by Vi Bao
