Many entrances leading to Ho Chi Minh City were crammed with vehicles on Sunday as travelers came back to the city one day early before the end of a four-day holiday.

Many returnees had thought that they should come back to the city on Sunday instead of Monday, the last day off, to avoid traffic congestion.

Salaried workers in Vietnam are entitled to four days off from Friday to celebrate Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers' Day (May 1).

The number of vehicles began to increase gradually on Sunday afternoon at the gateways to the city, keeping traffic police forces busy at important traffic points.

A prolonged jam formed on the Ly Thai To Street section in Dong Nai Province leading to the Cat Lai Ferry in Ho Chi Minh City at 4:30 pm, mainly in the automobile lane, with the line of stuck vehicles stretching more than one kilometer.

The same situation was observed at 5:30 pm on National Highway 1 in its section linking the Mekong Delta province of Long An with Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Chanh District.

Tran Minh Hiep, one of the returnees, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that he would not go to work on Monday but he opted to leave Bao Loc City of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong for the southern metropolis sooner to avoid traffic jams.

Bao Loc Pass began to be packed with vehicles that moved at a snail's pace at around Saturday noon, Hiep said.

“I started to enter the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway at about 4:30 pm," Hiep said.

"The first section of the expressway in Dau Giay was not stuck and the toll collection booth was operating normally.

“But after I passed Long Thanh District, congestion started to happen, with vehicles moving very slowly."

Sunday afternoon also saw slight congestion on the Ho Chi Minh City - Long Thanh - Dau Giay Expressway, the National Highway 6 traffic patrol team reported.

Traffic officers, therefore, had to restrict the traffic flow from entering the highway from the Dong Nai Province direction until the handling of the incident was completed.

Meanwhile, the Cat Lai traffic police team assigned its units to be on duty around the clock in areas prone to congestion like expressway lead-ups and such streets as Mai Chi Tho, Luong Dinh Cua, and Dong Van Cong.

In addition, the Cat Lai ferry area was also put under control by a large traffic police force.

Traffic police officers, in conjunction with other forces, also allocated a part of traffic flow from the expressway to the My Thuy intersection, Phu Huu roundabout, and the branch road leading to Do Xuan Hop Street in order to relieve the traffic load on the highway.

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