Long Thành Interchange Opens, Cutting 18km Detour for TP.HCM Drivers

31

Eliminating the 18km Detour to Võ Nguyên Giáp

The opening of the Long Thành interchange represents a tactical victory for commuters who previously faced a frustrating logistical loop. By activating the second branch of the T2 road, authorities have removed the requirement for drivers to detour 18km to the Võ Nguyên Giáp interchange to access the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu route. As VnExpress reported, the move was specifically designed to resolve the inefficiency of vehicles on the TP.HCM – Long Thành – Dầu Giây expressway having to drive backward to reach the necessary junction. Anh Trường, Driver However, the immediate impact has been mixed. While the path to Vũng Tàu is now more direct, the merge point where the branch enters the TP.HCM – Long Thành – Dầu Giây expressway toward the city center has already created a bottleneck, causing significant traffic slow-downs.

Access Restrictions and Route Workarounds

The interchange is not yet operating at full capacity. For the initial phase, only passenger cars with fewer than nine seats are permitted to enter the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu expressway. Speed limits are strictly tiered to manage the temporary nature of the infrastructure. According to Tuổi Trẻ, vehicles on the T2 right branch are limited to 60km/h, while the maximum speed on the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu expressway itself is capped at 80km/h. The current configuration creates a fragmented experience for those traveling from Dầu Giây toward Vũng Tàu. Since the direct connecting branches are not yet finished, these drivers must:

• Exit the expressway onto National Highway 51.
• Navigate the roundabout to re-enter the TP.HCM – Long Thành – Dầu Giây expressway in the opposite direction.
• Use the newly opened T2 branch to finally enter the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu expressway.

Furthermore, the straight path leading into Long Thành Airport remains closed to traffic, requiring drivers to follow specific signage to ensure they merge correctly into the expressway.

VEC’s Temporary Toll Strategy

Because the interchange is being exploited temporarily before a synchronized tolling system is fully implemented, the Vietnam Expressway Corporation (VEC) has introduced a flexible payment model. As Znews detailed, vehicles entering the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu expressway without a recorded entry point will have their tolls processed at the exit lanes. In cases where a vehicle has entry information but fails to record an exit after three hours—or based on actual traffic conditions—the system will automatically calculate and collect the fee as if the vehicle had exited at the Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu interchange. This measure is intended to prevent revenue loss while maintaining traffic flow during the transition period.

The 17.8 Trillion VND Investment in Regional Connectivity

The Long Thành interchange is a critical node in the larger Biên Hòa – Vũng Tàu expressway project. Spanning nearly 54km and requiring a total investment of approximately 17.8 trillion VND, the project is designed to fundamentally alter the logistics of southern Vietnam. The primary objective is to strip traffic away from the chronically congested National Highway 51. According to Dan Tri, the completed network is expected to slash travel time from TP.HCM to Vũng Tàu to roughly 70 minutes. The current opening is only a partial success. Several key directions remain inactive because construction is incomplete: The Ministry of Construction has ordered the coordination of traffic and tolling adjustments to maximize the utility of the Long Thành node while the rest of the project catches up. Authorities expect to complete the remaining entrance and exit ramps and open all remaining directions by June 2026.